Equatorial America
Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America (2024)

DESCRIPTIVE OF A VISIT TO ST. THOMAS
MARTINIQUE, BARBADOES, AND
THE PRINCIPAL CAPITALS
OF SOUTH AMERICA

BY

MATURIN M. BALLOU

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1892

Copyright, 1892,
By MATURIN M. BALLOU.

All rights reserved.

The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S.A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. 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 that I have seen," says Tennyson, asentiment which every one of large experience will heartily indorse.With the extraordinary facilities for travel available in modern times,it is a serious mistake in those who possess the means, not to becomefamiliar with the various sections of the globe. Vivid descriptions andexcellent photographs give us a certain knowledge of the great monumentsof the world, both natural and artificial, but the traveler always findsthe reality a new revelation, whether it be the marvels of a YellowstonePark, a vast oriental temple, Alaskan glaciers, or the Pyramids ofGhiza. The latter, for instance, do not differ from the statistics whichwe have so often seen recorded, their great, dominating outlines are thesame as pictorially delineated, but when we actually stand before them,they are touched by the wand of enchantment, and spring into visiblelife. Heretofore they have been shadows, henceforth they are tangibleand real. The best descriptions fail to inspire us, experience alone cando that. What words can adequately depict the confused grandeur of theFalls of Schaffhausen; the magnificence of the Himalayanrange,—roof-tree of the world; the thrilling beauty of theYosemite Valley; the architectural loveliness of the Taj Mahal, ofIndia; the starry splendor of equatorial nights; the maritime charms ofthe Bay of Naples; or the marvel of the Midnight Sun at the North Cape?It is personal observation alone which truly satisfies, educating theeye and enriching the understanding. If we can succeed in imparting, aportion of our enjoyment to others, we enhance our own pleasure, andtherefore these notes of travel are given to the public.

M. M. B.

CHAPTER I.

Commencement of a Long Journey.—The GulfStream.—Hayti.—Sighting St. Thomas.—ShipRock.—Expert Divers.—Fidgety Old Lady.—An ImportantIsland.—The Old Slaver.—Aborigines.—St. ThomasCigars.—Population.—Tri-Mountain.—NegroParadise.—.—Variety of Fish.—CoalingShip.—The Firefly Dane.—A Weird Scene.—An AntiqueAnchor.

In starting upon foreign travel, one drops into thefamiliar routine on shipboard much after the same fashion whereverbound, whether crossing the Atlantic eastward, or steaming to the souththrough the waters of the Caribbean Sea; whether in a Peninsular andOriental ship in the Indian Ocean, or on a White Star liner in thePacific bound for Japan. The steward brings a cup of hot coffee and aslice of dry toast to one's cabin soon after the sun rises, as a sort ofeye-opener; and having swallowed that excellent stimulant, one feelsbetter fortified for the struggle to dress on the uneven floor of arolling and pitching ship. Then comes the brief promenade on deck beforebreakfast, a liberal inhalation of fresh air insuring a good appetite.There is no hurry at this meal. There is so little to do at sea, and somuch time to do it in, that passengers are apt to linger at table as apastime, and even multiply their meals in number. As a rule, we make upour mind to follow some instructive course of reading while at sea, but,alas! we never fulfill the good resolution. An entire change of habitsand 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 bygreat activity of body and mind. Favored by the unavoidablecompanionship of individuals in the circ*mscribed space of a ship,acquaintances are formed which often ripen into lasting friendship.Inexperienced 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 seenmany phases exhibited for his analysis.

Our vessel, the Vigilancia, is a large, commodious, andwell-appointed ship, embracing all the modern appliances for comfort andsafety at sea. She is lighted by electricity, having a donkey enginewhich sets in motion a dynamo machine, converting mechanical energy intoelectric energy. Perhaps the reader, though familiar with the effect ofthis mode of lighting, has never paused to analyze the very simplemanner in which it is produced. The current is led from the dynamos tothe various points where light is desired by means of insulated wires.The lamps consist of a fine thread of carbon inclosed in a glass bulbfrom which air has been entirely excluded. This offers such resistanceto the current passing through it that the energy is expended in raisingthe carbon to a white heat, thus forming the light. The permanence ofthe carbon is insured by the absence of oxygen. If the glass bulb isbroken and atmospheric air comes in contact with the carbon, it is atonce destroyed by combustion, and all light from this source ceases.These lamps are so arranged that each one can be turned off or on atwill without affecting others. The absence of offensive smell or smoke,the steadiness of the light, unaffected by the motion of the ship, andits superior brilliancy, all join to make this mode of lighting a vessela positive luxury.

Some pleasant hours were passed on board the Vigilancia, between NewYork and the West Indies, in the study of the Gulf Stream, through whichwe were sailing,—that river in the ocean with its banks and bottomof cold water, while its current is always warm. Who can explain themystery of its motive power? What keeps its tepid water, in a course ofthousands of miles, from mingling with the rest of the sea? Whence doesit really come? The accepted theories are familiar enough, but we placelittle reliance upon them, the statements of scientists are so easilyformulated, but often so difficult to prove. As Professor Maury tellsus, there is in the world no other flow of water so majestic as this; ithas a course more rapid than either the Mississippi or the Amazon, and avolume more than a thousand times greater. The color of this remarkablestream, whose fountain is supposed to be the Gulf of Mexico and theCaribbean Sea, is so deep a blue off our southern shore that the line ofdemarcation from its surroundings is quite obvious, the Gulf waterhaving apparently a decided reluctance to mingling with the rest of theocean, a peculiarity which has been long and vainly discussed without asatisfactory solution having been reached. The same phenomenon has beenobserved in the Pacific, where the Japanese current comes up from theequator, along the shore of that country, crossing Behring's Sea to thecontinent of North America, and, turning southward along the coast ofCalifornia, finally disappears. Throughout all this ocean passage, likethe Gulf Stream in the Atlantic, it retains its individuality, and isquite separate from the rest of the ocean. The fact that the water is than that of theAtlantic is by some supposed to account for the indigo blue of the GulfStream.

The temperature of this water is carefully taken on board all wellregulated ships, and is recorded in the log. On this voyage it was foundto vary from 75° to 80° Fahrenheit.

Our ship had touched at Newport News, Va., after leaving New York, totake the U. S. mail on board; thence the course was south-southeast,giving the American continent a wide berth, and heading for the Danishisland of St. Thomas, which lies in the latitude of Hayti, but a longway to the eastward of that uninteresting island. We say uninterestingwith due consideration, though its history is vivid enough to satisfythe most sensational taste. It has produced its share of native heroes,as well as native traitors, while the frequent upheavals of its mingledraces have been no less erratic than destructive. The ignorance andconfusion which reign among the masses on the island are deplorable.Minister Douglass utterly failed to make anything out of Hayti. Thelower classes of the people living inland come next to the inhabitantsof Terra del Fuego in the scale of humanity, and are much inferior tothe Maoris of New Zealand, or the savage tribes of Australia. It issatisfactorily proven that cannibalism still exists among them in itsmost repulsive form, so revolting, indeed, that we hesitate to detailthe experience of a creditable eye-witness relating to this matter, aspersonally described to us.

Upon looking at the map it would seem, to one unaccustomed to theocean, that a ship could not lay her course direct, in these islanddotted waters, without running down one or more of them; but thedistances which are so circ*mscribed upon the chart are extended formany a league at sea, and a good navigator may sail his ship from NewYork to Barbadoes, if he so desires, without sighting the land. Not asailing vessel or steamship was seen, on the brief voyage from theAmerican continent to the West Indies, these latitudes being far lessfrequented by passenger and freighting ships than the transatlanticroute further north.

It is quite natural that the heart should throb with increasedanimation, the spirits become more elate, and the eyes more than usuallyappreciative, when the land of one's destination heaves in sight afterlong days and nights passed at sea. This is especially the case if thechange from home scenes is so radical in all particulars as when comingfrom our bleak Northern States in the early days of spring, before thetrees have donned their leaves, to the soft temperature and exuberantverdure of the low latitudes. Commencing the voyage herein described,the author left the Brooklyn shore of New York harbor about the first ofMay, during a sharp snow-squall, though, as Governor's Island was passedon the one hand, and the Statue of Liberty on the other, the sun burstforth from its cloudy environment, as if to smile a cheerful farewell.Thus we passed out upon the broad Atlantic, bound southward, soonfeeling its half suppressed force in the regular sway and roll of thevessel. She was heavily laden, and measured considerably over fourthousand tons, drawing twenty-two feet of water, yet she was like aneggshell upon the heaving breast of the ocean. As these mammoth shipslie in port beside the wharf, it seems as though their size and enormousweight would place them beyond the influence of the wind and waves: butthe power of the latter is so great as to be beyond computation, andmakes a mere toy of the largest hull that floats. No one can realize thegreat strength of the waves who has not watched the sea in all of itsvarying moods.

"Land O!" shouts the lookout on the forecastle.

A wave of the hand signifies that the occupant of the bridge hasalready made out the mote far away upon the glassy surface of the sea,which now rapidly grows into definite form.

When the mountain which rises near the centre of St. Thomas wasfairly in view from the deck of the Vigilancia, it seemed as ifbeckoning us to its hospitable shore. The light breeze which fanned thesea came from off the land flavored with an odor of tropical vegetation,a suggestion of fragrant blossoms, and a promise of luscious fruits. Onour starboard bow there soon came into view the well known Ship Rock,which appears, when seen from a short distance, almost precisely like afull-rigged ship under canvas. If the sky is clouded and the atmospherehazy, the delusion is remarkable.

This story is told of a French corvette which was cruising in theselatitudes at the time when the buccaneers were creating such havoc withlegitimate commerce in the West Indies. It seems that the coast waspartially hidden by a fog, when the corvette made out the rock throughthe haze, and, supposing it to be what it so much resembles, a shipunder sail, fired a gun to leeward for her to heave to. Of course therewas 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 dowith a powerful adversary, he resolved to obtain the advantage bypromptly crippling the enemy, and so discharged the whole of hisstarboard broadside into the supposed ship, looming through the mist.The fog quietly dispersed as the corvette went about and prepared todeliver her port guns in a similar manner. As the deceptive rock stoodin precisely the same place when the guns came once more to bear uponit, the true character of the object was discovered. It is doubtfulwhether the Frenchman's surprise or mortification predominated.

An hour of steady progress served to raise the veil of distance, andto reveal the spacious bay of Charlotte Amalie, with its strongbackground of abrupt hills and dense greenery of tropical foliage. Howwonderfully blue was the water round about the island,—an emeraldset in a sea of molten sapphire! It seemed as if the sky had been meltedand poured all over the ebbing tide. About the Bahamas, especially offthe shore at Nassau, the water is green,—a delicate bright green;here it exhibits only the true azure blue,—Mediterranean blue. Itis seen at its best and in marvelous glow during the brief moments oftwilight, when a glance of golden sunset tinges its mottled surface withiris hues, like the opaline flashes from a humming-bird's throat.

The steamer gradually lost headway, the vibrating hull ceased tothrob with the action of its motive power, as though pausing to takebreath after long days and nights of sustained effort, and presently theanchor was let go in the excellent harbor of St. Thomas, latitude 18°20' north, longitude 64° 48' west. Our forecastle gun, fired to announcearrival, awakened the echoes in the hills, so that all seemed to join inclapping their hands to welcome us. Thus amid the Norwegian fiords thereport of the steamer's single gun becomes a whole broadside, as it isreverberated from the grim and rocky elevations which line thatiron-bound coast.

There was soon gathered about the ship a bevy of naked colored boys,a score or more, jabbering like a lot of monkeys, some in canoes of homeconstruction, it would seem, consisting of a sugar box sawed in twoparts, or a few small planks nailed together, forming more of a tub thana boat, and leaking at every joint. These frail floats were propelledwith a couple of flat boards used as paddles. The young fellows came outfrom the shore to dive for sixpences and shillings, cast into the sea bypassengers. The moment a piece of silver was thrown, every canoe wasinstantly emptied of its occupant, all diving pell-mell for the money.Presently one of the crowd was sure to come to the surface with thesilver exhibited above his head between his fingers, after which,monkey-like, it was securely deposited inside of his cheek. Similarscenes often occur in tropical regions. The last which the author canrecall, and at which he assisted, was at Aden, where the Indian Oceanand the Red Sea meet. Another experience of the sort is also wellremembered as witnessed in the South Pacific off the Samoan islands. Onthis occasion the most expert of the natives, among the naked divers,was a young Samoan girl, whose agility in the water was such that sheeasily secured more than half the bright coins which were thrownoverboard, though a dozen male competitors were her rivals in thepursuit. 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, forgetting that we areall this time in the snug harbor of St. Thomas, in the West Indies.

A fidgety old lady passenger, half hidden in an avalanche of wraps,while the thermometer indicated 80° Fahr., one who had gone into partialhysterics several times during the past few days, upon the slightestprovocation, declared that this was the worst region for hurricanes inthe known world, adding that there were dark, ominous clouds forming towindward which she was sure portended a cyclone. One might have told hertruthfully that May was not a hurricane month in these latitudes, but wewere just then too earnestly engaged in preparing for a stroll on shore,too full of charming anticipations, to discuss possible hurricanes, andso, without giving the matter any special thought, admitted that it didlook a little threatening in the northwest. This was quite enough tofrighten the old lady half out of her senses, and to call the stewardessinto prompt requisition, while the deck was soon permeated with the odorof camphor, sal volatile, and valerian. We did not wait to see how shesurvived the attack, but hastened into a shore boat and soon landed atwhat is known as King's wharf, when the temperature seemed instantly torise about twenty degrees. Near the landing was a small plaza, shaded bytall ferns and cabbage palms, with here and there an umbrageous mango.Ladies and servant girls were seen promenading with merry children,whites and blacks mingling indiscriminately, while the Danish militaryband were producing most shocking strains with their brass instruments.One could hardly conceive of a more futile attempt at harmony.

There is always something exciting in first setting foot upon aforeign soil, in mingling with utter strangers, in listening to thevoluble utterances and jargon of unfamiliar tongues, while noting themanners, dress, and faces of a new people. The current language of themass of St. Thomas is a curious compound of negro grammar, Yankeeaccent, and English drawl. Though somewhat familiar with the WestIndies, the author had never before landed upon this island. Everythingstrikes one as curious, each turn affords increased novelty, and everymoment is full of interest. Black, yellow, and white men are seen ingroups, the former with very little covering on their bodies, the latterin diaphanous costumes. Negresses sporting high colors in their scantyclothing, set off by rainbow kerchiefs bound round their heads, turbanfashion; little naked blacks with impossible paunches; here and there ashuffling negro bearing baskets of fish balanced on either end of a longpole resting across his shoulders; peddlers of shells and corals; oldwomen carrying trays upon their heads containing cakes sprinkled withgranulated sugar, and displayed upon neat linen towels, seeking forcustomers among the newly arrived passengers,—all together form aunique picture of local life. The constantly shifting scene moves beforethe observer like a panorama unrolled for exhibition, seeming quite astheatrical and artificial.

St. Thomas is one of the Danish West Indian Islands, of which thereare three belonging to Denmark, namely, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St.John. For the possession of the first named Mr. Seward, when Secretaryof State, in 1866, offered the King of Denmark five million dollars ingold, which proposition was finally accepted, and it would have been acheap purchase for us at that price; but after all detail had been dulyagreed upon, the United States Congress refused to vote the necessaryfunds wherewith to pay for the title deed. So when Mr. Sewardconsummated the purchase of Alaska, for a little over seven milliondollars, there were nearly enough of the small-fry politicians inCongress to defeat the bargain with Russia in the same manner. Theincome from the lease of two islands alone belonging to Alaska—St.George and St. Paul—has paid four and one half per cent. per annumupon the purchase money ever since the territory came into ourpossession. There is one gold mine on Douglas Island, Alaska, not tomention its other rich and inexhaustible products, for which a Frenchsyndicate has offered fourteen million dollars. We doubt if St. Thomascould be purchased from the Danes to-day for ten million dollars, whilethe estimated value of Alaska would be at least a hundred million ormore, with its vast mineral wealth, its invaluable salmon fisheries, itsinexhaustible forests of giant timber, and its abundance of seal, otter,and other rich furs. A penny-wise and pound-foolish Congress made a hugemistake in opposing Mr. Seward's purpose as regarded the purchase of St.Thomas. The strategic position of the island is quite sufficient tojustify our government in wishing to possess it, for it isgeographically the keystone of the West Indies. The principal objectwhich Mr. Seward had in view was to secure a coaling and refittingstation for our national ships in time of war, for which St. Thomaswould actually be worth more than the island of Cuba. Opposite to it isthe continent of Africa; equidistant are the eastern shores of North andSouth America; on one side is western Europe, on the other the route toIndia and the Pacific Ocean; in the rear are Central America, the WestIndies, and Mexico, together with those great inland bodies of saltwater, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It requires no argumentto show how important the possession of such an outpost might prove tothis country.

Since these notes were written, it is currently reported that ourgovernment has once more awakened to the necessity of obtainingpossession of this island, and fresh negotiations have been enteredinto. One thing is very certain, if we do not seize the opportunity topurchase St. Thomas at the present time, England, or some otherimportant power, will promptly do so, to our serious detriment and justmortification.

St. Thomas has an area of nearly fifty square miles, and supports apopulation of about fourteen thousand. In many respects the capital isunique, and being our first landing-place after leaving home, was ofmore than ordinary interest to the writer. The highest point on theisland, which comes first into view from the deck of a southern boundsteamer, is West Mountain, rising sixteen hundred feet above the levelof the surrounding waters. Geologists would describe St. Thomas as beingthe top of a small chain of submerged mountains, which would be quitecorrect, since the topography of the bottom of the sea is but acounterpart of that upon the more familiar surface of the earth weoccupy. When ocean electric cables for connecting islands and continentsare 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 invalleys and hills many hundred feet above the present level of tidewaters, tell us plainly enough that in the long ages which have passed,the diversified surface of the earth which we now behold has changedplaces with these submerged regions, which probably once formed the dryland. The history of the far past is full of instances showing the slowbut continuous retreat of the water from the land in certain regions andits encroachment in others, the drying up of lakes and rivers, as wellas the upheaval of single islands and groups from the bed of theocean.

A range of dome-shaped hills runs through the entire length of thisisland of St. Thomas, fifteen miles from west to east, beingconsiderably highest at the west end. As we passed between the twoheadlands which mark the entrance to the harbor, the town was seenspread over three hills of nearly uniform height, also occupying thegentle valleys between. Two stone structures, on separate hills, form aprominent feature; these are known respectively as Blue Beard and BlackBeard tower, but their origin is a myth, though there are plenty oflegends extant about them. Both are now utilized as residences, havingmostly lost their original crudeness and picturesque appearance. Thetown, as a whole, forms a pleasing and effective background to theland-locked bay, which is large enough to afford safe anchorage for twohundred ships at the same time, except when a hurricane prevails; thenthe safest place for shipping is as far away from the land as possible.It is a busy port, considering the small number of inhabitants, steamersarriving and departing constantly, besides many small coasting vesselswhich ply between this and the neighboring islands. St. Thomas iscertainly the most available commercially of the Virgin group ofislands. Columbus named them "Las Vergines," in reference to thefamiliar Romish legend of the eleven thousand virgins, about asinappropriate a title as the fable it refers to is ridiculous.

Close in shore, at the time of our visit, there lay a schooner-riggedcraft of more than ordinary interest, her jaunty set upon the water, hergraceful lines, tall, raking masts, and long bowsprit suggesting themodel of the famous old Baltimore clippers. There is a fascinatingindividuality about sailing vessels which does not attach to steamships.Seamen form romantic attachments for the former. The officers and crewof the Vigilancia were observed to cast admiring eyes upon this handsomeschooner, anchored under our lee. A sort of mysterious quiet hung abouther; every rope was hauled taut, made fast, and the slack neatly coiled.Her anchor was atrip, that is, the cable was hove short, showing thatshe was ready to sail at a moment's notice. The only person visible onboard was a bareheaded, white-haired old seaman, who sat on the transomnear the wheel, quietly smoking his pipe. On inquiry it was found thatthe schooner had a notable history and bore the name of the Vigilant,having been first launched a hundred and thirty years ago. It appearedthat she was a successful slaver in former days, running between thecoast of Africa and these islands. She was twice captured by Englishcruisers, but somehow found her way back again to the old and nefariousbusiness. Of course, she had been overhauled, repaired, and re-riggedmany times, but it is still the same old frame and hull that so oftenmade the middle passage, as it was called. To-day she serves as a mailboat running between Santa Cruz and St. Thomas, and, it is said, canmake forty leagues, with a fair wind, as quick as any steamer on thecoast. The same evening the Vigilant spread her broad white wings andglided silently out of the harbor, gathering rapid way as she passed itsentrance, until feeling the spur of the wind and the open sea, shequickly vanished from sight. It was easy to imagine her bound upon herold piratical business, screened by the shadows of the night.

Though it no longer produces a single article of export on its ownsoil, St. Thomas was, in the days of negro slavery, one of the mostprolific sugar yielding islands of this region. It will be rememberedthat the emancipation of the blacks took place here in 1848. It wasnever before impressed upon us, if we were aware of the fact, that thesugar-cane is not indigenous to the West Indies. It seems that the plantcame originally from Asia, and was introduced into these islands byColumbus and his followers. As is often the case with otherrepresentatives of the vegetable kingdom, it appears to have flourishedbetter here than in the land of its nativity, new climatic combinations,together with the soil, developing in the saccharine plant betterqualities and increased productiveness, for a long series of yearsenriching many enterprising planters.

When Columbus discovered St. Thomas, in 1493, it was inhabited by twotribes of Indians, the Caribs and the Arrowauks, both of which soondisappeared under the oppression and hardships imposed by the Spaniards.It is also stated that from this island, as well as from Cuba and Hayti,many natives were transported to Spain and there sold into slavery, inthe days following close upon its discovery. Thus Spain, from theearliest date, characterized her operations in the New World by aheartlessness and injustice which ever attended upon her conquests, bothamong the islands and upon the continent of America. The Caribs were ofthe red Indian race, and appear to have been addicted to cannibalism.Indeed, the very word, by which the surrounding sea is also known, issupposed to be a corruption of the name of this tribe. "These Caribs didnot eat their own babies," says an old writer apologetically, "like somesorts of wild beasts, but only roasted and ate their prisoners ofwar."

The island was originally covered with a dense forest growth, but isnow comparatively denuded of trees, leaving the land open to the fullforce of the sun, and causing it to suffer at times from seriousdroughts. There is said to be but one natural spring of water on theisland. This shows itself at the surface, and is of very limitedcapacity; the scanty rains which occur here are almost entirely dependedupon to supply water for domestic use.

St. Thomas being so convenient a port of call for steamers fromEurope and America, and having so excellent a harbor, is improved as adepot for merchandise by several of the neighboring islands, thusenjoying a considerable commerce, though it is only in transitu.It is also the regular coaling station of several steamship lines.Judging from appearances, however, it would seem that the town is notgrowing in population or business relations, but is rather retrograding.The value of the imports in 1880 was less than half the aggregate amountof 1870. We were told that green groceries nearly all come from theUnited States, and that even eggs and poultry are imported from theneighboring islands, showing an improvidence on the part of the peopledifficult to account for, since these sources of food supply can beprofitably produced at almost any spot upon the earth where vegetationwill grow. Cigars are brought hither from Havana in considerablequantities, and having no duty to pay, can be sold very cheap by thedealers at St. Thomas, and still afford a reasonable profit. Quite atrade is thus carried on with the passengers of the several steamerswhich call here regularly, and travelers avail themselves of theopportunity to lay in an ample supply. Cuban cigars of the quality whichwould cost nine or ten dollars a hundred in Boston are sold at St.Thomas for five or six dollars, and lower grades even cheaper inproportion. There is said to be considerable smuggling successfullycarried on between this island and the Florida shore, in the article ofcigars as well as in tobacco in the unmanufactured state. The high dutyon these has always incited to smuggling, thus defeating the very objectfor which it is imposed. Probably a moderate duty would yield more tothe government in the aggregate, by rendering it so much less of anobject to smuggle.

Though the island is Danish in nationality, there are fewsurroundings calculated to recall the fact, save that the flag of thatcountry floats over the old fort and the one or two official buildings,just as it has done for the last two centuries. The prominent officialsare Danes, as well as the officers of the small body of soldiersmaintained on the island. English is almost exclusively spoken, thoughthere are French, Spanish, and Italian residents here. English is alsothe language taught in the public schools. People have come here to makewhat money they can, but with the fixed purpose of spending it andenjoying it elsewhere. As a rule, all Europeans who come to the WestIndies and embark in business do so with exactly this purpose. In Cubathe Spaniards from the continent, among whom are many Jews, have aproverb the significance of which is: "Ten years of starvation, and afortune," and most of them live up to this axiom. They leave allprinciples of honor, all sense of moral responsibility, all sacreddomestic ties, behind them, forgetting, or at least ignoring, thesignificant query, namely, "What shall it profit a man, if he gain thewhole world, and lose his own soul?"

About one third of the population is Roman Catholic. The Jews have asynagogue, and a membership of six hundred. They have a record on theisland dating as far back as the year 1757, and add much to the activityand thrift of St. Thomas. No matter where we find the Jews, in Mexico,Warsaw, California, or the West Indies, they are all alike intent uponmoney making, and are nearly always successful. Their irrepressibleenergy wins for them the goal for which they so earnestly strive. Thatsoldier of fortune, Santa Anna, formerly ruler of Mexico, when banishedas a traitor from his native country, made his home on this island, andthe house which he built and occupied is still pointed out to visitorsas one of the local curiosities. The social life of St. Thomas isnaturally very circ*mscribed, but is good so far as it goes. A fewcultured people, who have made it their home for some years, have becomesincerely attached to the place, and enjoy the climate. There are asmall public library, a hospital, several charitable institutions, and atheatre, which is occupied semi-occasionally. The island is connectedwith the continent by cable, and has a large floating dock and marinerailway, which causes vessels in distress to visit the port for neededrepairs. The town is situated on the north side of the bay which indentsthe middle of the south side of the island. The harbor has a depth ofwater varying from eighteen to thirty-six feet, and has the advantage ofbeing a free port, a fact, perhaps, of not much account to a place whichhas neither exports nor imports of its own. St. Thomas is the only townof any importance on the island, and is known locally as CharlotteAmalie, a fact which sometimes leads to a confusion of ideas.

The reader need not encounter the intense heat, which so nearlywilted us, in an effort to obtain a good lookout from some elevatedspot; but the result will perhaps interest him, as it fully repaid thewriter for all the consequent discomfort.

From the brow of a moderate elevation just behind the town, adelightful and far-reaching view is afforded, embracing St. Thomas inthe foreground, the well-sheltered bay, dotted with vessels bearing theflags of various nations, an archipelago of islets scattered over thenear waters, and numerous small bays indenting the coast. At a distanceof some forty miles across the sea looms the island of Santa Cruz; andfarther away, on the horizon's most distant limit, are seen the tallhills and mountains of Porto Rico; while the sky is fringed by a longtrailing plume of smoke, indicating the course of some passingsteamship. The three hills upon which the town stands are spurs of WestMountain, and the place is quite as well entitled to the name ofTremont—"tri-mountain"—as was the capital of Massachusetts,before its hills were laid low to accommodate business demands. On theseaward side of these elevations the red tiled roofs of the white housesrise in regular terraces from the street which borders the harbor,forming a very picturesque group as seen from the bay.

Though it has not often been visited by epidemics, Mr. AnthonyTrollope pronounces the island, in his usual irresponsible way, to be"one of the hottest and one of the most unhealthy spots among all thesehot and unhealthy regions," and adds that he would perhaps be justifiedin saying "that of all such spots it is the hottest and most unhealthy."This is calculated to give an incorrect idea of St. Thomas. True, it isliable to periods of unhealthiness, when a species of low feverprevails, proving more or less fatal. This is thought to originate fromthe surface drainage, and the miasma arising from the bay. All thedrains of the town flow into the waters of the harbor, which has notsufficient flow of tide to carry seaward the foul matter thusaccumulated. The hot sun pouring its heat down upon this tainted watercauses a dangerous exhalation. Still, sharks do not seem to be sensitiveas to this matter, for they much abound. It is yet to be discovered whythese tigers of the sea do not attack the negroes, who fearlessly leapoverboard; a white man could not do this with impunity. The Asiatics ofthe Malacca Straits do not enjoy any such immunity from danger, thoughthey have skins as dark as the divers of St. Thomas. Sharks appear inthe West Indies in small schools, or at least there are nearly alwaystwo or three together, but in Oriental waters they are only seen singly.Thus a Malay of Singapore, for a compensation, say an English sovereign,will place a long, sharp knife between his teeth and leap naked into thesea to attack a shark. He adroitly dives beneath the creature, and as itturns its body to bring its awkward mouth into use, with his knife theMalay slashes a deep, long opening in its exposed belly, at the sametime forcing himself out of the creature's reach. The knife is sure andfatal. After a few moments the huge body of the fish is seen to rise andfloat lifeless upon the surface of the water.

A large majority of the people are colored, exhibiting somepeculiarly interesting types, intermarriage with whites of variousnationalities having produced among the descendants of Africans manychanges of color and of features. One feels sure that there is also atrace of Carib or Indian blood mingled with the rest,—a trace ofthe aborigines whom Columbus found here. The outcome is not entirely arace with flat noses and protruding lips; straight Grecian profiles arenot uncommon, accompanied by thin nostrils and Anglo-Saxon lips.Faultless teeth, soft blue eyes, and hair nearly straight are sometimesmet with among the creoles. As to the style of walking and of carryingthe head and body, the common class of women of St. Thomas have arrivedat perfection. Some of them are notable examples of unconscious dignityand grace combined. This has been brought about by carrying burdens upontheir heads from childhood, without the supporting aid of the hands.Modesty, or rather conventionality, does not require boys or girls undereight years of age to encumber themselves with clothing. The costume ofthe market women and the lower classes generally is picturesque,composed of a Madras kerchief carefully twisted into a turban of manycolors, yellow predominating, a cotton chemise which leaves the neck andshoulders exposed, reaching just below the knees, the legs and feetbeing bare. The men wear cotton drawers reaching nearly to the knee, therest of the body being uncovered, except the head, which is usuallysheltered under a broad brimmed straw hat, the sides of which areperforated by many ventilating holes. The whites generally, and also thebetter class of natives, dress very much after the fashion whichprevails in North America.

This is the negroes' paradise, but it is a climate in which the whiterace gradually wanes. The heat of the tropics is modified by theconstant and grateful trade winds, a most merciful dispensation, withoutwhich the West Indies would be uninhabitable by man. On the hillsides ofSt. Thomas these winds insure cool nights at least, and a comparativelytemperate state of the atmosphere during the day. Vegetation isabundant, the fruit trees are perennial, bearing leaf, blossom, andfruit in profusion, month after month, year after year. Little, if any,cultivation is required. The few sugar plantations which are stillcarried on yield from three to four successive years without replanting.It is a notable fact that where vegetation is at its best, where thesoil is most rank and prolific, where fruits and flowers grow in wildexuberance, elevated humanity thrives the least. The lower the grade ofman, the nearer he approximates to the animals, the less civilized he isin mind and body, the better he appears to be adapted to suchlocalities. The birds and the butterflies are in exact harmony with theloveliness of tropical nature, however prolific she may be; the flowersare glorious and beautiful: it is man alone who seems out of place. Agreat variety of fruits are indigenous here, such as the orange, lime,alligator pear, moss-apple, and mango, but none of them are cultivatedto any extent; the people seem to lack the energy requisite to improvethe grand possibilities of their fertile soil and prolific climate.

We were reminded by a resident of the town, before we left the harborof St. Thomas, that the nervous old lady referred to was not entirelywithout reason for her anxiety. Some of our readers will remember,perhaps, that in October, 1867, a most disastrous hurricane swept overthese Virgin Islands, leaving widespread desolation in its track. Theshipping which happened to be in the bay of St. Thomas was nearly alldestroyed, together with hundreds of lives, while on the land scores ofhouses and many lives were also sacrificed to the terrible cyclone ofthat date. Even the thoroughly built iron and stone lighthouse wascompletely obliterated. There is a theory that such visitations come inthis region about once in every twelve or fifteen years, and uponlooking up the matter we find them to have occurred, with more or lessdestructive force, in the years 1793, 1819, 1837, 1867, 1871, and solate as August, 1891. Other hurricanes have passed over these islandsduring the period covered by these dates, but of a mitigated character.August, September, and October are the months in which the hurricanesare most likely to occur, and all vessels navigating the West Indianseas during these months take extra precautions to secure themselvesagainst accidents from this source. When such visitations happen, theevent is sure to develop heroic deeds. In the hurricane of 1867, thecaptain of a Spanish man-of-war, who was a practical sailor, brought upfrom boyhood upon the ocean, seeing the oncoming cyclone, and knowing byexperience what to expect, ordered the masts of his vessel to be cutaway at once, and every portion of exposed top hamper to be cast intothe sea. When thus stripped he exposed little but the bare hull of hissteamer to the fury of the storm. After the cyclone had passed, it wasfound that he had not lost a man, and that the steamer's hull, thoughseverely battered, was substantially unharmed. Keeping up all steamduring the awful scene, this captain devoted himself and his ship to thesaving of human life, promptly taking his vessel wherever he could be ofthe most service. Hundreds of seamen were saved from death by thecoolness and intrepidity of this heroic sailor.

Since these notes were written among the islands, a terrible cyclonehas visited them. This was on August 18, last past, and proved moredestructive to human life, to marine and other property, than anyoccurrence of the kind during the last century. At Martinique a sharpshock of earthquake added to the horror of the occasion, the town ofFort de France being very nearly leveled with the ground. Many tall andnoble palms, the growth of half a hundred years, were utterly demolishedin the twinkling of an eye, and other trees were uprooted by thescore.

The waters of this neighborhood teem with strange forms of animal andvegetable life. Here we saw specimens of red and blue snappers, theangel-fish, king-fish, gurnets, cow-fish, whip-ray, peaco*ck-fish,zebra-fish, and so on, all, or nearly all, unfamiliar to us, eachspecies individualized either in shape, color, or both. The whip-ray,with a body like a flounder, has a tail six or seven feet long, taperingfrom an inch and over to less than a quarter of an inch at the smallend. When dried, it still retains a degree of elasticity, and is used bythe natives as a whip with which to drive horses and donkeys. In someplaces, so singularly clear is the water that the bottom is distinctlyvisible five or six fathoms below the surface, where fishes of varioussorts are seen in ceaseless motion. White shells, corals, star-fish, andsea-urchins mingle their various forms and colors, objects and huesseeming to be intensified by the strong reflected light from thesurface, so that one could easily fancy them to be flowers blooming inthe fairy gardens of the mermaids. The early morning, just after the sunbegins to gild the surface of the sea, is the favorite time for theflying-fishes to display their aerial proclivities. They are alwaysattracted by a strong light, and are thus lured to their destruction bythe torches of the fishermen, who often go out for the purpose at nightand take them in nets. In the early morning, as seen from the ship'sdeck, they scoot above the rippling waves in schools of a hundred andmore, so compact as to cast fleeting shadows over the blue enameledsurface of the waters. At St. Thomas, Martinique, and Barbadoes, as wellas among the other islands bordering the Caribbean Sea, they form noinconsiderable source of food for the humble natives, who fry them inbatter mixed with onions, making a savory and nutritious dish.

St. Thomas is, as we have said, a coaling station for steamships, andwhen the business is in progress a most unique picture is presented. Theship is moored alongside of the dock for this purpose, two side portsbeing thrown open, one for ingress, the other for egress. A hundredwomen and girls, wearing one scanty garment reaching to the knees, arein line, and commence at once to trot on board in single file, each onebearing a bushel basket of coal upon her head, weighing, say sixtypounds. Another gang fill empty baskets where the coal is stored, sothat there is a continuous line of negresses trotting into the ship atone port and, after dumping their loads into the coal bunkers, out atthe other, hastening back to the source of supply for more. Their stepis quick, their pose straight as an arrow, while their feet keep time toa wild chant in which all join, the purport of which it is not possibleto clearly understand. Now and again their voices rise in softly mingledharmony, floating very sweetly over the still waters of the bay. Thescene we describe occurred at night, but the moon had not yet risen.Along the wharf, to the coal deposits, iron frames were erectedcontaining burning bituminous coal, and the blaze, fanned by the openair, formed the light by which the women worked. It was a weird picture.Everything seemed quite in harmony: the hour, the darkness of nightrelieved by the flaming brackets of coal, the strange, dark figureshastening into the glare of light and quickly vanishing, the harmony ofhigh-pitched voices occasionally broken in upon by the sharp, sternvoice of their leader,—all was highly dramatic and effective.

Not unfrequently three or four steamers are coaling at the same timefrom different wharves. Hundreds of women and girls of St. Thomas makethis labor their special occupation, and gain a respectable living byit, doubtless supporting any number of lazy, worthless husbands,fathers, and brothers.

After our ship was supplied with coal, these women, having put threehundred tons on board in a surprisingly short period of time, formed agroup upon the wharf and held what they called a firefly dance,indescribably quaint and grotesque, performed by the flickering light ofthe flaming coal. Their voices were joined in a wild, quick chant, asthey twisted and turned, clapping their hands at intervals to emphasizethe chorus. Now and again a couple of the girls would separate from therest for a moment, then dance toward and from each other, throwing theirarms wildly about their heads, and finally, gathering their scantydrapery in one hand and extending the other, perform a movement similarto the French cancan. Once more springing back among their companions,all joined hands, and a roundabout romp closed the firefly dance. Couldsuch a scene be produced in a city theatre au naturel, withproper accessories and by these actual performers, it would surely provean attraction good for one hundred nights. Of course this would beimpossible. Conventionality would object to such diaphanous costumes,and bare limbs, though they were of a bronzed hue, would shock Puritaniceyes.

Upon first entering the harbor, the Vigilancia anchored at a shortdistance from the shore; but when it became necessary to haul alongsidethe wharf, the attempt was made to get up the anchor, when it was foundto require far more than the usual expenditure of power to do so.Finally, however, the anchor was secured, but attached to its flukesthere came also, from the bottom of the bay, a second anchor, of antiqueshape, covered with rust and barnacles. It was such a one as was carriedby the galleons of the fifteenth century, and had doubtless lain forover four hundred years just where the anchor of our ship had gotentangled with it. What a remarkable link this corroded piece of ironformed, uniting the present with the far past, and how it stimulated themind in forming romantic possibilities! It may have been the holdingiron of Columbus's own caravel, or have been the anchor of one ofCortez's fleet, which touched here on its way into the Gulf of Mexico,or, indeed, it may have belonged to some Caribbean buccaneer, who wasobliged to let slip his cable and hasten away to escape capture.

It was deemed a fortunate circ*mstance to have secured this ancientrelic, and a sure sign of future good luck to the ship, so it was dulystored away in the lower hold of the Vigilancia.

That same night on which the coal bunkers were filled, our good shipwas got under way, while the rising moon made the harbor and itssurroundings as clearly visible as though it were midday. The light fromthe burning coal brackets had waned, only a few sparks bursting forthnow and again, disturbed by a passing breeze which fanned them into lifefor a moment. When we passed through the narrow entrance by thelighthouse, 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 moonlight, rivaling the firefly dance on shore. Even to the veryhorizon the water presented a white, silvery, tremulous sheen of liquidlight. One gazed in silent enjoyment until the eyes were weary with thelavish beauty of the scene, and the brain became giddy with itssplendor. Is it idle and commonplace to be enthusiastic? Perhaps so; butwe hope never to outlive such inspiration.

CHAPTER II.

Curious Seaweed.—ProfessorAgassiz.—Myth of a Lost Continent.—Island ofMartinique.—An Attractive Place.—Statue of the EmpressJosephine.—Birthplace of Madame de Maintenon.—City of St.Pierre.—Mont Pelée.—High Flavored Specialty.—Grisettesof Martinique.—A Botanical Garden.—DefectiveDrainage.—A Fatal Enemy.—A Cannibal Snake.—TheClimate.

Between St. Thomas and the island of Martinique, we fellin with some floating seaweed, so peculiar in appearance that anobliging quartermaster picked up a spray for closer examination. It is astrange, sponge-like plant, which propagates itself on the ocean,unharmed by the fiercest agitation of the waves, or the wildest ragingof the winds, at the same time giving shelter to zoöphytes and mollusksof a species, like itself, found nowhere else. Sailors call it Gulfweed, but it has nothing to do with the Gulf Stream, though sometimesclusters get astray and are carried far away on the bosom of that grandocean current. The author has seen small bodies of it, after a fiercestorm in the Caribbean Sea, a thousand miles to the eastward ofBarbadoes. Its special home is a broad space of ocean surface betweenthe Gulf Stream and the equatorial current, known as the Sargasso Sea.Its limits, however, change somewhat with the seasons. It was firstnoticed by Columbus in 1492, and in this region it has remained forcenturies, even to the present day. Sometimes this peculiar weed is soabundant as to present the appearance of a submerged meadow, throughwhich the ship ploughs its way as though sailing upon the land. We aretold that Professor Agassiz, while at sea, having got possession of asmall branch of this marine growth, kept himself busily absorbed with itand its products for twelve hours, forgetting all the intervening meals.Science was more than food and drink to this grand savant. His yearsfrom boyhood were devoted to the study of nature in her various forms."Life is so short," said he, "one can hardly find space to becomefamiliar 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 townand lecture, he replied that he was too busy. "But we will pay youdouble price, Mr. Agassiz, if you will come," said the applicant. "Icannot waste time to make money," was the noble reply.

The myth of a lost continent is doubtless familiar to thereader,—a continent supposed to have existed in these watersthousands of years ago, but which, by some evolution of nature, becamesubmerged, sinking from sight forever. It was the Atlantis which ismentioned by Plato; the land in which the Elysian Fields were placed,and the Garden of Hesperides, from which the early civilization ofGreece, Egypt, and Asia Minor were derived, and whose kings and heroeswere the Olympian deities of a later time. The poetical idea prevailsthat this plant, which once grew in those gardens, having lost itsoriginal home, has become a floating waif on the sapphire sea of thetropics. The color of the Sargasso weed is a faint orange shade; theleaves are pointed, delicate, and exquisitely formed, like those of theweeping willow in their youthful freshness, having a tiny, round, lightgreen berry near the base of each leaf. Mother Cary's chickens are saidto be fond of these berries, and that bird abounds in these waters.

Probably the main portion of the West Indian islands was once a partof the continent of America, many, many ages ago. There are trees of thelocust family growing among the group to-day, similar to those found onour southern coast, which are declared to be four thousand years old.This statement is partially corroborated by known characteristics of thegrowth of the locust, and there are arborists who fully credit thisgreat longevity. It is interesting to look upon an object which had avital existence two thousand years and more before Christ was uponearth, and which is still animate.

* * * * *

Each new island which one visits in the West Indies seems more lovelythan its predecessor, always leaving Hayti out of the question; butMartinique, at this moment of writing, appears to rival all those withwhich the author is familiar. It might be a choice bit out of Cuba,Singapore, or far-away Hawaii. Its liability to destructive hurricanesis its only visible drawback. Having been discovered on St. Martin'sday, Columbus gave it the name it now bears.

St. Pierre is the commercial capital of Martinique, one of the FrenchWest Indies, and the largest of the group belonging to that nation. Fortde France is the political capital, situated about thirty miles from St.Pierre. It was nearly ruined by the cyclone of last August, a few weeksafter the author's visit. St. Pierre is the best built town in theLesser Antilles, and has a population of about twenty-five thousand. Thestreets are well paved, and the principal avenues are beautified byornamental 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 tropicalregions. The houses are very attractive, while there is a prevailingaspect of order, cleanliness, and thrift everywhere apparent. It was notour experience to meet one beggar in the streets of St. Pierre. More orless of poverty must exist everywhere, but it does not stalk abroadhere, as it does in many rich and pretentious capitals of the greatworld. The island is situated midway between Dominica and St. Lucia, andis admitted by all visitors to be one of the most picturesque of theWest Indian groups. Irregular in shape, it is also high and rocky, thusforming one of the most prominent of the large volcanic family whichsprang up so many ages ago in these seas. Its apex, Mont Pelée, an onlypartially extinct volcano, rises between four and five thousand feetabove the level of the ocean, and is the first point visible onapproaching the island from the north. It would be interesting to dilateupon the past history of Martinique, for it has known not a little ofthe checkered vicissitudes of these Antilles, having been twice capturedby the English, and twice restored to France. But this would not be inaccordance with the design of these pages.

St. Pierre is situated on the lee side of the island, something lessthan two thousand miles, by the course we have steered, from New York,and three hundred miles from St. Thomas. It comes down to the verywater's edge, with its parti-colored houses and red-tiled roofs, whichmingle here and there with tall, overhanging cocoa-palms. This is themost lavishly beautiful tree in the world, and one which never fails toimpart special interest to its surroundings.

A marble statue in the Place de la Savane, at Fort de France, on thesame side of the island as St. Pierre, recalls the fact that this wasthe birthplace of the Empress Josephine, born in 1763. Her memorablehistory is too familiar for us to repeat any portion of it here, but thebrain becomes very active at the mere mention of her name, in recallingthe romantic and tragic episodes of her life, so closely interwoven withthe career of the first Napoleon. One instinctively recalls the smallboudoir in the palace of Trianon, where her husband signed the divorcefrom Josephine. That he loved her with his whole power for loving isplain enough, as is also his well 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 toJosephine's youth upon the island. We refer to that of the old negressfortune-teller who prognosticated the grandeur of her future career,together with its melancholy termination, a story so tinctured withlocal color that, if it be not absolutely true, it surely ought to be.The statue, unless we are misinformed, was the gift of that colossalfraud, Napoleon III., though it purports to have been raised to thememory of Josephine by the people of Martinique, who certainly feelgreat pride in the fact of her having been born here, and who trulyvenerate her memory. The statue represents the empress dressed in thefashion of the First Empire, with bare arms and shoulders, one handresting on a medallion bearing a profile of the emperor to whom she wasdevoted. The whole is partially shaded by a half dozen grand old palms.The group teems with historic suggestiveness, recalling one of the mosttragic chapters of modern European history. It seemed to us that theartist had succeeded in imparting to the figure an expression indicatingsomething of the sad story of the original.

This beautiful island, it will be remembered, also gave to Franceanother remarkable historic character, Françoise d'Aubigné, afterwardsMadame Scarron, but better known to the world at large as Madame deMaintenon. She, too, was the wife of a king, though the marriage was aleft-handed one, but as the power behind the throne, she is well knownto have shaped for years the political destinies of France.

St. Pierre has several schools, a very good hotel, a theatre, apublic library, together with some other modern and progressiveinstitutions; yet somehow everything looked quaint and olden, asixteenth century atmosphere seeming to pervade the town. The windows ofthe ordinary dwellings have no glass, which is very naturally consideredto be a superfluity in this climate; but these windows have iron barsand wooden shutters behind them, relics of the days of slavery, whenevery white man's house was his castle, and great precautions were takento guard against the possible uprising of the blacks, who outnumberedtheir masters twenty to one.

Though so large a portion of the population are of negro descent, yetthey are very French-like in character. The native women especially seemto be frivolous and coquettish, not to say rather lax in morals. Theyappear to be very fond of dress. The young negresses have learned fromtheir white mistresses how to put on their diaphanous clothing in ajaunty and telling fashion, leaving one bronzed arm and shoulder bare,which strikes the eye in strong contrast with the snow white of theircotton chemises. They are Parisian grisettes in ebony, and with theirlarge, roguish eyes, well-rounded figures, straight pose, and daintyways, the half-breeds are certainly very attractive, and only too readyfor a lark with a stranger. They strongly remind one of the prettyquadroons of Louisiana, in their manners, complexion, and generalappearance; and like those handsome offspring of mingled blood, so oftenseen in our Southern States, we suspect that these of Martinique enjoybut a brief space of existence. The average life of a quadroon is lessthan thirty years.

Martinique is eight times as large as St. Thomas, containing apopulation of about one hundred and seventy-five thousand. Within itsborders there are at least five extinct volcanoes, one of which has anenormous crater, exceeded by only three or four others in the knownworld. The island rises from the sea in three groups of rugged peaks,and contains some very fertile valleys. So late as 1851, Mont Peléeburst forth furiously with flames and smoke, which naturally threw thepeople into a serious panic, many persons taking refuge temporarily onboard the shipping in the harbor. The eruption on this occasion did notamount to anything very serious, only covering some hundreds of acreswith sulphurous débris, yet serving to show that the volcano was notdead, but sleeping. Once or twice since that date ominous mutteringshave been heard from Mont Pelée, which it is confidently predicted willone day deluge St. Pierre with ashes and lava, repeating the story ofPompeii.

Sugar, rum, coffee, and cotton are the staple products here,supplemented by tobacco, manioc flour, bread-fruit, and bananas. Rum isvery extensively manufactured, and has a good mercantile reputation forits excellence, commanding as high prices as the more famous article ofthe same nature produced at Jamaica. The purpose of the author is mainlyto record personal impressions, but a certain sprinkling of statisticsand detail is inevitable, if we would inform, as well as amuse, theaverage reader.

The flora of Martinique is the marvel and delight of all who haveenjoyed its extraordinary beauty, while the great abundance and varietyof its fruits are believed to be unsurpassed even in the prolifictropics. Of that favorite, the mango, the island produces some fortyvarieties, and probably in no other region has the muscatel grapereached to such perfection in size and flavor. The whole island lookslike a maze of greenery, as it is approached from the sea, vividlyrecalling Tutuila of the Samoan group in the South Pacific. Like most ofthe West Indian islands, Martinique was once densely covered with trees,and a remnant of these ancient woods creeps down to the neighborhood ofSt. Pierre to-day.

The principal landing is crowded at all times with hogsheads of sugarand molasses, and other casks containing the highly scented island rum,the two sweets, together with the spirits, causing a nauseous odor underthe powerful heat of a vertical sun. We must not forget to mention,however, that St. Pierre has a specific for bad odors in her somewhatpeculiar specialty, namely, eau-de-cologne, which is manufactured onthis 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 itbe for but a single day, without bringing away a sample bottle of thisdelicate 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 remainupon the limbs and body after a cold bath.

The town is blessed with an inexhaustible supply of good, fresh,mountain water, which, besides furnishing the necessary quantity forseveral large drinking fountains, feeds some ornamental ones, andpurifies the streets by a flow through the gutters, after the fashion ofSalt 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 inabundance is an inestimable boon. This elaborate fountain was the giftof a colored man, named Alfred Agnew, who was at one time mayor of thecity. Many of the gardens attached to the dwelling-houses are ornamentedwith ever-flowing fountains, which impart a refreshing coolness to thetropical atmosphere.

The Rue Victor Hugo is the main thoroughfare, traversing the wholelength of the town parallel with the shore, up hill and down, crossing asmall bridge, and finally losing itself in the environs. It is nicelykept, well paved, and, though it is rather narrow, it is the Broadway ofSt. Pierre. Some of the streets are so abrupt in grade as to recallsimilar avenues in the English portion of Hong Kong, too steep for thepassage of vehicles, or even for donkeys, being ascended by means ofmuch worn stone steps. Fine, broad roadways surround the town and formpleasant drives.

The cathedral has a sweet chime of bells, whose soft, liquid notescame to us across the water of the bay with touching cadence at theAngelus hour. It must be a sadly calloused heart which fails to respondto these twilight sounds in an isle of the Caribbean Sea. Millet'simpressive picture was vividly recalled as we sat upon the deck andlistened to those bells, whose notes floated softly upon the air as ifbidding farewell to the lingering daylight. At the moment, all elsebeing so still, it seemed as though one's heartbeat could be heard,while the senses were bathed in a tranquil gladness incited by thesurrounding 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 theirveins, the result of which is sometimes a very handsome type of bronzedhue, but of Circassian features. Some of the young women of the betterclass are very attractive, with complexions of a gypsy color, like theartists' models who frequent the "Spanish Stairs" leading to the Trinitàdi Monti, at Rome. These girls possess deep, dark eyes, pearly teeth,with good figures, upright and supple as the palms. In dress they affectall the colors of the rainbow, presenting oftentimes a charming audacityof contrasts, and somehow it seems to be quite the thing for them to doso; it accords perfectly with their complexions, with the climate, witheverything tropical. The many-colored Madras kerchief is universallyworn by the common class of women, twisted into a jaunty turban, withone well-starched end ingeniously arranged so as to stand upright like asoldier's plume. The love of ornament is displayed by the wearing ofhoop earrings of enormous size, together with triple strings of goldbeads, and bracelets of the same material. If any one imagines he hasseen larger sized hoop earrings this side of Africa, he is mistaken.They are more like bangles than earrings, hanging down so as to restupon the neck and shoulders. Those who cannot afford the genuine articlesatisfy their vanity with gaudy imitations. They form a very curious andinteresting study, these black, brown, and yellow people, both men andwomen. In the market-place at the north end of the town, the womenpreside over their bananas, oranges, and other fruits, in groups,squatting like Asiatics on their heels. In the Havana fish market, onecompares the variety of colors exhibited by the fishes exposed for saleto those of the kaleidoscope, but here the Cuban display is equaled ifnot surpassed.

St. Pierre has a botanical garden, situated about a mile from thecentre of the town, so located as to admit of utilizing a portion of thenative forest yet left standing, with here and there an impenetrablegrowth of the feathery bamboo, king of the grasses, interspersed withthe royal palm and lighter green tree-ferns. The bamboo is a marvel,single stems of it often attaining a height in tropical regions of ahundred and seventy feet, and a diameter of a foot. So rapid is itsgrowth that it is sometimes known to attain the height of a hundred feetin sixty days. Art has done something to improve the advantages affordedby nature in this botanical garden, arranging some pretty lakes,fountains, and cascades. Vistas have been cut through the denseundergrowth, and driveways have been made, thus improving the ratherneglected grounds. One pretty lake of considerable size contains threeor four small islands, covered with flowering plants, while on the shoreare pretty summer houses and inviting arbors. The frangipanni, tall andalmost leafless, but with thick, fleshy shoots and a broad-spread,single leaf, was recognized here among other interesting plants. This isthe fragrant flower mentioned by the early discoverers. There was alsothe parti-colored passion-flower, and groups of odd-shaped cacti, whosethick, green leaves were daintily rimmed with an odorless yellow bloom.Here, also, is an interesting example of the ceba-tree, in whose shade ahundred persons might banquet together. The author has seen specimens ofthe ceba superbly developed in Cuba and the Bahamas, with its massiveand curiously buttressed trunk, having the large roots half aboveground. It is a solitary tree, growing to a large size and enjoyinggreat longevity. Mangoes abound here, the finest known as the mangod'or. There is a certain air about the public garden of St. Pierre,indicating that nature is permitted in a large degree to have her ownsweet will. Evidences enough remain to show the visitor that thesegrounds must once have been in a much more presentable condition. Thereis 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 yellowflower, best known to us as English broom, Cytisus genista. Itsprofuse but delicate bloom was dazzling beneath the bright sun's rays.Could it possibly be indigenous? No one could tell us. Probably someresident brought it hither from his home across the ocean, and it haskindly adapted itself to the new soil and climate.

We were cautioned to look out for and to avoid a certain poisonoussnake, a malignant reptile, with fatal fangs, which is the dread of theinhabitants, some of whom are said to die every year from the venom ofthe creature. It will be remembered that one of these snakes, known hereas the fer-de-lance, bit Josephine, the future empress, when shewas very young, and that her faithful negro nurse saved the child's lifeby instantly drawing the poison from the wound with her own lips. It issingular that this island, and that of St. Lucia, directly south of it,should be cursed by the presence of these poisonous creatures, which donot exist in any other of the West Indian islands, and, indeed, so faras we know, are not to be found anywhere else. The fer-de-lance has onefatal enemy. This is a large snake, harmless so far as poisonous fangsare concerned, called the cribo. This reptile fearlessly attacksthe fer-de-lance, and kills and eats him in spite of his venom, aperfectly justifiable if not gratifying instance of cannibalism, where acreature eats and relishes the body of one of its own species. Thedomestic cat is said also to be more than a match for the dreaded snake,and instinctively adopts a style of attack which, while protectingitself, 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 gountil it has severed the head from the body; and even then instinctteaches the cat to avoid the head, for though it be severed from thebody, like the mouth of a turtle under similar circ*mstances, it canstill inflict a serious wound.

The fer-de-lance is a great destroyer of rats, this rodent formingits principal source of food. Now as rats are almost as much of a pestupon the island, and especially on the sugar plantations, as rabbits arein New Zealand, it will be seen that even the existence of thispoisonous snake is not an unmitigated evil.

Crosses and wayside shrines of a very humble character are to be seenin all directions on the roadsides leading from St. Pierre, recallingsimilar structures which line the inland roads of Japan, where the localreligion finds like public expression, only varying in the character ofthe emblems. At Martinique it is a Christ or a Madonna; in Japan it is acrude idol of some sort, the more hideous, the more appropriate. Thesame idea is to be seen carried out in the streets of Canton andShanghai, only Chinese idols are a degree more unlike anything upon orbelow the earth than they are elsewhere.

It was observed that while there were plenty of masculine loafers andcareless idlers of various colors, whose whole occupation seemed to besucking at some form of burning tobacco in the shape of cigarette,cigar, or pipe, the women, of whatever complexion, seen in public, wereall usefully employed. They are industrious by instinct; one almostnever sees them in repose. In the transportation of all articles ofdomestic use, women bear them upon their heads, whether the articleweighs one pound or fifty, balancing their load without making use ofthe hands except to place the article in position. The women notinfrequently have also a baby upon their backs at the same time.Negresses and donkeys perform nine tenths of the transportation ofmerchandise. Wheeled vehicles are very little used in the West Indianislands. As we have seen, even in coaling ship, it is the women who dothe work.

The Hotel des Bains, at St. Pierre, is an excellent hostelry, as suchplaces go in this part of the world. The stranger will find here most ofthe requisites for domestic comfort, and at reasonable prices. As ahealth resort the place has its advantages, and a northern invalid,wishing to escape the rigor of a New England winter, would doubtlessfind much to occupy and recuperate him here. St. Pierre, however, hastimes of serious epidemic sickness, though this does not often happen inthe winter season. Three or four years ago the island was visited by asweeping epidemic of small-pox, but it raged almost entirely among thelowest classes, principally among the negroes, who seem to have a greatprejudice and superstitious fear relating to vaccination, and itsemployment as a preventive against contracting the disease. In theyellow 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; andyet, after all, with the earthquakes, hurricanes, tarantulas, scorpions,and deadly fer-de-lance, as Artemus Ward would say, Martinique presentsmany characteristics to recommend protracted absence. A brief visit islike a poem to be remembered, but one soon gets a surfeit of thecirc*mscribed island.

Our next objective point was Barbadoes, to reach which we sailed onehundred and fifty miles to the eastward, this most important of theLesser Antilles being situated further to windward, that is, nearer thecontinent of Europe. Our ponderous anchor came up at early morning, justas the sun rose out of the long, level reach of waters. It looked like amammoth ball of fire, which had been immersed during the hours of thenight countless fathoms below the sea. Presently everything was aglowwith light and warmth, while the atmosphere seemed full of infinitesimalparticles of glittering gold. At first one could watch the face of therising sun, as it came peering above the sea, a sort of fascinationimpelling the observer to do so, but after a few moments, no human eyecould bear its dazzling splendor.

Said an honest old Marshfield farmer, in 1776, who met the clergymanof the village very early in the opening day: "Ah, good mornin', Parson,another fine day," nodding significantly towards the sun just appearingabove the cloudless horizon of Massachusetts Bay. "They do say the airthmoves, and the sun stands still; but you and I, Parson, we git up airlyand we see it rise!"

CHAPTER III.

English Island of Barbadoes.—Bridgetown theCapital.—The Manufacture of Rum.—A GeographicalExpert.—Very English.—A Pest ofAnts.—Exports.—The Ice House.—A DensePopulation.—Educational.—Marine Hotel.—Habits ofGambling.—Hurricanes.—Curious Antiquities.—TheBarbadoes Leg.—Wakeful Dreams.—Absence ofTwilight.—Departure from the Island.

Bridgetown is the capital of Barbadoes, an English islandwhich, unlike St. Thomas, is a highly cultivated sugar plantation fromshore to shore. In natural beauty, however, it will not compare withMartinique. It is by no means picturesquely beautiful, like most of theWest Indian islands, being quite devoid of their thick tropical verdure.Nature is here absolutely beaten out of the field by excessivecultivation. Thirty thousand acres of sugar-cane are cut annually,yielding, according to late statistics, about seventy thousand hogsheadsof sugar. We are sorry to add that there are twenty-three rumdistilleries on the island, which do pecuniarily a thriving business."The poorest molasses makes the best rum," said an experienced managerto us. He might well have added that it is also the poorest use to whichit could be put. This spirit, like all produced in the West Indies, iscalled Jamaica rum, and though a certain amount of it is still shippedto the coast of Africa, the return cargoes no longer consist ofkidnapped negroes. The article known as New England rum, stillmanufactured in the neighborhood of Boston, has always disputed theAfrican market, so to speak, with the product of these islands. Rum isthe bane of Africa, just as opium is of China, the former thrust uponthe native races by Americans, the latter upon the Chinese by Englishmerchants, backed by the British government. Events follow each other soswiftly in modern times as to become half forgotten by contemporarypeople, but there are those among us who remember when China as a nationtried to stop the importation of the deadly drug yielded by the poppyfields of India, whereupon England forced the article upon her at thepoint of the bayonet.

Bridgetown is situated at the west end of the island on the openroadstead of Carlisle Bay, and has a population of over twenty-fivethousand. Barbadoes lies about eighty miles to the windward of St.Vincent, its nearest neighbor, and is separated from Europe by fourthousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean. It is comparatively removed fromthe chain formed by the Windward Isles, its situation being so isolatedthat it remained almost unnoticed until a century had passed afterColumbus's first discovery in these waters. The area of the Britishpossessions in the West Indies is about one seventh of the islands. Itis 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 alittle over fifty-five miles in circumference. The reader will perhapsremember that it was here Addison laid the scene of his touching storyof "Inkle and Yarico," published so many years ago in the"Spectator."

Though it is not particularly well laid out, Bridgetown makes a verypleasing picture, as a whole, when seen from the harbor. Here and therea busy windmill is mixed with tall and verdant tropical trees, backed byfar-reaching fields of yellow sugar-cane, together with low, slopinghills. The buildings are mostly of stone, or coral rock, and the townfollows the graceful curve of the bay. The streets are macadamized andlighted with gas, but are far too narrow for business purposes. Theisland is about twenty-one miles long and between fourteen and fifteenbroad, the shores being nearly inclosed in a cordon of coral reefs, someof which extend for two or three miles seaward, demanding of navigatorsthe greatest care on seeking a landing, though the course into the roadsto a suitable anchorage is carefully buoyed.

Barbadoes was originally settled by the Portuguese, who here foundthe branches of a certain forest tree covered with hair-like hangingmoss, from whence its somewhat peculiar name, Barbadoes, or the "beardedplace," is supposed to have been derived. Probably this was the Indianfig-tree, still found here, and which lives for many centuries, growingto enormous proportions. In India, Ceylon, and elsewhere in Asia, it isheld sacred. The author has seen one of these trees at Kandy, in theisland of Ceylon, under which sacred rites have taken place constantlyfor a thousand years or more, and whose widespread branches couldshelter five hundred people from the heat of the sun. It stands close bythe famous old Buddhist temple wherein is preserved the tooth of theprophet, and before which devout Indians prostrate themselves daily,coming from long distances to do so. Indeed, Kandy is the Mecca ofCeylon.

A good share of even the reading public of England would be puzzledto tell an inquirer exactly where Barbadoes is situated, while most ofthose who have any idea about it have gained such knowledge as theypossess from Captain Marryat's clever novel of "Peter Simple," where theaccount is, to be sure, meagre enough. Still later, those who have readAnthony Trollope's "West Indies and the Spanish Main" have got from theflippant pages of that book some idea of the island, though it is a verydisagreeable example of Trollope's pedantic style.

"Barbadoes? Barbadoes?" said a society man to the writer of thesepages, 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 LesserAntilles."

"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."

With which remark we silently agreed, and yet our friend is reckonedto be a fairly educated, cultured person, as these expressions arecommonly used. Probably he represents the average geographical knowledgeof one half the people to be met with in miscellaneous society.

This is the first English possession where the sugarcane was planted,and is one of the most ancient colonies of Great Britain. It bears noresemblance to the other islands in these waters, that is,topographically, nor, indeed, in the character of its population, beingentirely English. The place might be a bit taken out of any shire townof the British home island, were it only a little more cleanly and lessunsavory; still it is more English than West Indian. The manners andcustoms are all similar to those of the people of that nationality; thenegroes, and their descendants of mixed blood, speak the same tongue asthe denizens of St. Giles, London. The island has often been called"Little England." There is no reliable history of Barbadoes before theperiod when Great Britain took possession of it, some two hundred andsixty years ago. Government House is a rather plain but pretentiousdwelling, where the governor has his official and domestic residence. Inits rear there is a garden, often spoken of by visitors, which isbeautified by some of the choicest trees and shrubs of this latitude. Itis really surprising how much a refined taste and skillful gardening canaccomplish in so circ*mscribed a space.

Barbadoes is somewhat remarkable as producing a variety of minerals;among which are coal, manganese, iron, kaolin, and yellow ochre. Thereare also one or two localities on the island where a flow of petroleumis found, of which some use is made. It is called Barbadoes tar, andwere the supply sufficient to warrant the use of refining machinery, itwould undoubtedly produce a good burning fluid. There is a "burningwell," situated in what is known as the Scotland District, where thewater emerging from the earth forms a pool, which is kept in a state ofebullition from the inflammable air or gas which passes through it. Thisgas, when lighted by a match, burns freely until extinguished byartificial means, not rising in large enough quantities to make a greatflame, but still sufficient to create the effect of burning water, andforming quite a curiosity.

There are no mountains on the island, but the land is undulating, andbroken into hills and dales; one elevation, known as Mount Hillaby,reaches a thousand feet and more above the level of tide waters.

One of the most serious pests ever known at Barbadoes was theintroduction of ants, by slave-ships from Africa. No expedient of humaningenuity served to rid the place of their destructive presence, and itwas at one time seriously proposed to abandon the island on thisaccount. After a certain period nature came to the rescue. She does allthings royally, and the hurricane of 1780 completely annihilated thevermin. Verily, it was appropriate to call Barbadoes in those days the! It appears thatthere is no affliction quite unmixed with good, and that we must put acertain degree of faith in the law of compensation, however great theseeming evil under which we suffer. To our limited power ofcomprehension, a destructive hurricane does seem an extreme resort bywhich to crush out an insect pest. The query might even arise, with someminds, 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 everynook and corner, from hilltop to water's edge. The annual export, asalready intimated, is considerably over sixty thousand hogsheads. Sugarcannot, however, be called king of any one section, since half of theamount manufactured in the whole world is the product of the beet root,the growth of which is liberally subsidized by more than one Europeangovernment, in order to foster local industry. Like St. Thomas, thisisland has been almost denuded of its forest growth, and is occasionallyliable, as we have seen, to destructive hurricanes.

Bridgetown is a place of considerable progress, having severalbenevolent and educational institutions; it also possesses railway,telephone, and telegraphic service. Its export trade aggregates overseven million dollars per annum, to accommodate which amount of commercecauses a busy scene nearly all the time in the harbor. The steam railwayreferred to connects the capital with the Parish of St. Andrews,twenty-one miles away on the other side of the island, its terminusbeing at the thrifty little town of Bathsheba, a popular resort, whichis noted for its fine beach and excellent sea bathing.

The cathedral is consecrated to the established religion of theChurch of England, and is a picturesque, time-worn building, surrounded,after the style of rural England, by a quaint old graveyard, themonuments and slabs of which are gray and moss-grown, some of thembearing dates of the earlier portion of the sixteenth century. This spotforms a very lovely, peaceful picture, where the graves are shaded bytree-ferns and stately palms. Somehow one cannot but miss the tall, slimcypress, which to the European and American eye seems so especiallyappropriate to such a spot. There were clusters of low-growingmignonette, which gave out a faint perfume exactly suited to the solemnshades which prevailed, and here and there bits of ground enameled withblue-eyed violets. The walls of the inside of the church are coveredwith memorial tablets, and there is an organ of great power andsweetness of tone.

The "Ice House," so called, at Bridgetown is a popular resort, whicheverybody visits who comes to Barbadoes. Here one can find files of allthe latest American and European papers, an excellent café, with drinksand refreshments of every conceivable character, and can purchase almostany desired article from a toothpick to a set of parlor furniture. It isa public library, an exchange, a "Bon Marché," and an artificial icemanufactory, all combined. Strangers naturally make it a place ofrendezvous. It seemed to command rather more of the average citizen'sattention than did legitimate business, and one is forced to admit thatalthough the drinks which were so generously dispensed were cool andappetizing, they were also very potent. It was observed that someindividuals, who came into the hospitable doors rather sober anddejected in expression of features, were apt to go out just a littlejolly.

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 asimilar retreat, but calls it a café, situated on the Paseo, near theTacon Theatre.

The population of the island amounts to about one hundred andseventy-two thousand,—the census of 1881 showed it to be a trifleless than this,—giving the remarkable density of one thousand andmore persons to the square mile, thus forming an immense human beehive.It is the only one of the West Indian islands from which a certainamount of emigration is necessary annually. The large negro populationmakes labor almost incredibly cheap, field-hands on the plantationsbeing paid only one shilling per day; and yet, so ardent is their loveof home—and the island is home to them—that only a few canbe induced to leave it in search of better wages. When it is rememberedthat the State of Massachusetts, which is considered to be one of themost thickly populated sections of the United States, contains but twohundred and twenty persons to the square mile, the fact that this WestIndian island supports over one thousand inhabitants in the same averagespace will be more fully appreciated. Notwithstanding this crowded stateof the population, we were intelligently informed that while pettyoffenses are common, there is a marked absence of serious crimes.

One sees few if any signs of poverty here. It is a land ofsugar-cane, yams, and sweet potatoes, very prolific, and very easilytilled. Some of the most prosperous men on the island are coloredplanters, who own their large establishments, though born slaves,perhaps on the very ground they now own. They have by strict economy andindustry saved money enough to make a fair beginning, and in the courseof years have gradually acquired wealth. One plantation, owned by acolored man, born of slave parents, was pointed out to us, with theinformation that it was worth twenty thousand pounds sterling, and thatit* last year's crop yielded over three hundred hogsheads of sugar,besides a considerable quantity of molasses.

England maintains at heavy expense a military depot here, from whichto draw under certain circ*mstances. There is no local necessity forsupporting such a force. Georgetown is a busy place. Being the mostseaward of the West Indies, it has become the chief port of call forships navigating these seas. The Caribbees are divided by geographersinto the Windward and Leeward islands, in accordance with the directionin which they lie with regard to the prevailing winds. They are in verydeep water, the neighboring sea having a mean depth of fifteen hundredfathoms. Being so far eastward, Barbadoes enjoys an exceptionallyequable climate, and it is claimed for it that it has a lowerthermometer than any other West Indian island. Its latitude is 13° 4'north, longitude 59° 37' west, within eight hundred miles of theequator. The prevailing wind blows from the northeast, over the broad,unobstructed Atlantic, rendering the evenings almost always delightfullycool, tempered by this grateful tonic breath of the ocean.

Trafalgar Square, Bridgetown, contains a handsome fountain, and abronze 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 ageneral business centre.

The home government supports, besides its other troops, a regiment ofnegroes uniformed as Zouaves and officered by white men. The police ofBridgetown are also colored men. Slavery was abolished here in 1833.Everything is so thoroughly English, that only the temperature, togetherwith the vegetation, tells the story of latitude and longitude. The soilhas been so closely cultivated as to have become partially exhausted,and this is the only West Indian island, if we are correctly informed,where artificial enrichment is considered necessary to stimulate thenative soil, or where it has ever been freely used. "I question," saidan intelligent planter to us, "whether we should not be better offto-day, if we had not so overstimulated, in fact, burned out, our landwith guano and phosphates." These are to the ground like intoxicants tohuman beings,—if over-indulged in they are fatal, and even thepartial use is of questionable advantage. The Chinese and Japanese applyonly domestic refuse in their fields as a manure, and no people obtainsuch grand results as they do in agriculture. They know nothing ofpatent preparations employed for such purposes, and yet will render aspot of ground profitable which a European would look upon as absolutelynot worth cultivating.

In any direction from Bridgetown going inland, miles upon miles ofplantations are seen bearing the bright green sugar-cane, turning toyellow as it ripens, and giving splendid promise for the harvest. Hereand there are grouped a low cluster of cabins, which form the quartersof the negroes attached to the plantation, while close at hand the tallchimney of the sugar mill looms over the surrounding foliage. A littleone side, shaded by some palms, is the planter's neat and attractiveresidence, painted snow white, in contrast to the deep greenerysurrounding it, and having a few flower beds in its front.

The Marine Hotel, which is admirably situated on a rocky point atHastings, three hundred feet above the beach, is about a league from thecity, and forms a favorite resort for the townspeople. The house iscapable of accommodating three hundred guests at a time. Its spaciouspiazzas fronting the ocean are constantly fanned by the northeast tradesfrom October to March. Some New York families regard the place as achoice winter resort, the thermometer rarely indicating over 80° Fahr.,or falling below 70°. This suburb of Hastings is the location of thearmy barracks, where a broad plain affords admirable space for drill andmilitary manœuvres. There is a monument at Hastings, raised to thememory of the victims of the hurricane of 1831, which seems to be ratherunpleasantly suggestive of future possibilities. Near at hand is awell-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 toall sorts of gambling, and the habit among the people is so common as tobe looked upon with great leniency. Just so, at some of the summerresorts of the south of France, Italy, and Germany, ladies or gentlemenwill frankly say, "I am going to the Casino for a little gambling, butwill be back again by and by."

The roads in the vicinity of Bridgetown are admirably kept, all beingmacadamized, but the dust which rises from the pulverized coral rock isnearly blinding, and together with the reflection caused by the sun onthe snow white roads proves very trying to the eyesight. The dust andglare are serious drawbacks to the enjoyment of these environs.

As we have said, hurricanes have proved very fatal at Barbadoes. In1780, four thousand persons were swept out of existence in a few hoursby the irresistible fury of a tornado. So late as 1831, the loss of lifeby a similar visitation was over two thousand, while the loss ofproperty aggregated some two million pounds sterling. The experience hasnot, however, been so severe here as at several of the other islands. Atthe time of the hurricane just referred to, Barbadoes was covered with acoat of sulphurous ashes nearly an inch thick, which was afterwardsfound to have come from the island of St. Vincent, where what is calledBrimstone Mountain burst forth in flames and laid that island also inashes. It is interesting to note that there should have been suchintimate relationship shown between a great atmospheric disturbance likea hurricane and an underground agitation as evinced by the eruption of avolcano.

It should be mentioned that these hurricanes have never been known topass a certain limit north or south, their ravages having always beenconfined between the eleventh and twenty-first degrees of northlatitude.

It appears that some curious Carib implements were found not longsince 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 ofhard stone, and were thought by the finders to have been used by theaborigines to fell trees. Some were thick shells, doubtless employed bythe Indians in the rude cultivation of maize, grown here four or fivehundred years ago. It was said that these stone implements resembledthose which have been found from time to time in Norway and Sweden. Ifthis is correct, it is an important fact for antiquarians to base atheory upon. Some scientists believe that there was, in prehistorictimes, an intimate relationship between Scandinavia and the continent ofAmerica.

Though there are several public schools in Bridgetown, both primaryand advanced, we were somehow impressed with the idea that education forthe common people was not fostered in a manner worthy of a Britishcolony of so long standing; but this is the impression of a casualobserver only. There is a college situated ten or twelve miles from thecity, founded by Sir Christopher Codrington, which has achieved a highreputation as an educational institution in its chosen field ofoperation. It is a large structure of white stone, well-arranged, andis, as we were told, consistent with the spirit of the times. It has thedignity of ripened experience, having been opened in 1744. Theprofessors are from Europe. A delicious fresh water spring rises to thesurface of the land just below the cliff, at Codrington College, ablessing which people who live in the tropics know how to appreciate.There is also at Bridgetown what is known as Harrison's College, which,however, is simply a high school devoted exclusively to girls.

The island is not exempt from occasional prevalence of tropicalfevers, but may be considered a healthy resort upon the whole. Leprosyis not unknown among the lower classes, and elephantiasis is frequentlyto 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 oneof his legs swollen to the size of his body. There is no known cure forthis disease except the surgeon's knife, and the removal of the victimfrom the region where it first developed itself. The author has seenterrible cases of elephantiasis among the natives of the Samoan group ofislands, where this strange and unaccountable disease is thought to havereached its most extreme and repulsive development. Foreigners areseldom if ever afflicted with it, either in the West Indies or the SouthPacific.

We are to sail to-night. A few passengers and a quantity of freighthave been landed, while some heavy merchandise has been received onboard, designed for continental ports to the southward. The afternoonshadows lengthen upon the shore, and the sunset hour, so brief in thislatitude, approaches. The traveler who has learned to love the lingeringtwilight of the north misses these most charming hours when inequatorial regions, but as the goddess of night wraps her sombre mantleabout her, it is so superbly decked with diamond stars that the departeddaylight is hardly regretted. It is like the prompter's ringing up ofthe curtain upon a complete theatrical scene; the glory of the tropicalsky bursts at once upon the vision in all its completeness, its burningconstellations, its solitaire brilliants, its depth of azure, and itsmysterious Milky Way.

While sitting under the awning upon deck, watching the gentle swayingpalms and tall fern-trees, listening to the low drone of busy life inthe town, and breathing the sweet exhalations of tropical fruits andflowers, a trance-like sensation suffuses the brain. Is this thedolce far niente of the Italians, the sweet do-nothing of thetropics? To us, however defined, it was a waking dream of sensuousdelight, of entire content. How far away sounds the noise of thesteam-winch, the sharp chafing of the iron pulleys, the prompt orders ofthe officer of the deck, the swinging of the ponderous yards, therattling of the anchor chain as it comes in through the hawse hole,while the ship gradually loses her hold upon the land. With half closedeyes we scarcely heard these many significant sounds, but floatedpeacefully on in an Eden of fancy, quietly leaving Carlisle Bay farbehind.

Our course was to the southward, while everything, high and low, wasbathed in a flood of shimmering moonlight, the magic alchemy of the sky,whose influence etherealizes all upon which it rests.

CHAPTER IV.

Curious Ocean Experiences.—The DelicateNautilus.—Flying-Fish.—The Southern Cross.—Speaking aShip at Sea.—Scientific Navigation.—South America as aWhole.—Fauna and Flora.—Natural Resources of a WonderfulLand.—Rivers, Plains, and Mountain Ranges.—AboriginalTribes.—Population.—Political Divisions.—CivilWars.—Weakness of South American States.

The sudden appearance of a school of flying-fish glidingswiftly through the air for six or eight rods just above the ripplingwaves, and then sinking from sight; the sportive escort of half ahundred slate-colored porpoises, leaping high out of the water on eitherbow 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 surfaceof the sea; the sporting of mammoth whales, sending columns of waterhigh in air from their blowholes, and lashing the waves playfully withtheir broad-spread tails, are events at sea too commonplace to commentupon in detail, though they tend to while away the inevitable monotonyof a long voyage.

Speaking of flying-fish, there is more in the flying capacity of thislittle creature than is generally admitted, else why has it wings on theforward part of its body, each measuring seven inches in length? Ifdesigned only for fins, they are altogether out of proportion to therest of its body. They are manifestly intended for just the use to whichthe creature puts them. One was brought to us by a seaman; how it got onboard we know not, but it measured eleven inches from the nose to thetip of the tail fin, and was in shape and size very much like a smallmackerel. After leaving Barbadoes, we got into what sailors call theflying-fish latitudes, where they appear constantly in their low, rapidflight, sometimes singly, but oftener in small schools of a score ormore, creating flashes of silvery-blue lustre. The most carefulobservation could detect no vibration of the long, extended fins; thetiny fish sailed, as it were, upon the wind, the flight of the giantalbatross in miniature.

One afternoon, when the sea was scarcely dimpled by the soft tradewind, we came suddenly upon myriads 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 QueenMab! How delicate and transparent it is, while radiating prismaticcolors! A touch might dismember it, yet what a daring navigator,floating confidently upon the sea where the depth is a thousand fathoms,liable at any moment to be changed into raging billows by an angrystorm! How minute the vitality of this graceful atom, a creature whoseexistence is perhaps for only a single day; yet how grand and limitlessthe system of life and creation of which it is so humble arepresentative! Sailors call these frail marine creatures Portuguesem*n-of-war. Possessing some singular facility for doing so, if they aredisturbed, they quickly furl their sails and sink below the surface ofthe buoyant waves into deep water, the home of the octopus, the squid,and the voracious shark. Did they, one is led to query, navigate theseseas after this fashion before the Northmen came across the ocean, andbefore Columbus landed at San Salvador? At night the glory of thesouthern hemisphere, as revealed in new constellations and brighterstars brought into view, was observed with keenestinterest,—"Everlasting Night, with her star diadems, with hersilence, and her verities." The phosphorescence of the sea, with itsscintillations of brilliant light, its ripples of liquid fire, the crestof each wave a flaming cascade, was a charming phenomenon one nevertired of watching. If it be the combination of millions and billions ofanimalculæ which thus illumines the waters, then these infinitesimalcreatures are the fireflies of the ocean, as the cucuios, that fairytorch-bearer, is of the land. Gliding on the magic mirror of the SouthAtlantic, in which the combined glory of the sky was reflected withsingular clearness, it seemed as though we were sailing over a starryworld below.

While observing the moon in its beautiful series of changes, lightingour way by its chaste effulgence night after night, it was difficult torealize that it shines entirely by the light which it borrows from thesun; but it was easy to believe the simpler fact, that of all thecountless hosts of the celestial bodies, she is our nearest neighbor."An eighteen-foot telescope reveals to the human eye over forty millionstars," said Captain Baker, as we stood together gazing at the luminousheavens. "And if we entertain the generally accepted idea," hecontinued, "we must believe that each one of that enormous aggregate ofstars is the centre of a solar system similar to our own." The knownfacts relating to the stars, like stellar distances, are almostincomprehensible.

One cannot but realize that there is always a certain amount ofsentiment wasted on the constellation known as the Southern Cross bypassengers bound to the lands and seas over which it hangs. Orion or thePleiades, either of them, is infinitely superior in point of brilliancy,symmetry, and individuality. A lively imagination is necessary to endowthis irregular cluster of stars with any real resemblance to theChristian emblem for which it is named. It serves the navigator in thesouthern hemisphere, in part, the same purpose which the north star doesin our portion of the globe, and there our own respect for it as aconstellation ends. Much poetic talent has been expended for ages toidealize the Southern Cross, which is, alas! no cross at all. We haveseen a person unfamiliar with the locality of this constellation strivelong and patiently, but in vain, to find it. It should be rememberedthat two prominent stars in Centaurus point directly to it. The onefurthest from the so called cross is held to be the fixed star nearestto the earth, but its distance from us is twenty thousand times fartherthan that of the sun.

We have never yet met a person, looking upon this cluster of theheavens for the first time, who did not frankly express hisdisappointment. Anticipation and fruition are oftenest at antipodes.

The graceful marine birds which follow the ship, day after day,darting hither and thither with arrowy swiftness, lured by theoccasional refuse thrown from on board, would be seriously missed werethey to leave us. Watching their aerial movements and untiring power ofwing, while listening to their sharp complaining cries, is a source ofconstant amusem*nt. Even rough weather and a raging sea, if notaccompanied by too serious a storm, is sometimes welcome, serving toawaken the ship from its dull propriety, and to put officers, crew, andpassengers upon their mettle. To speak a strange vessel at sea is alwaysinteresting. If it is a steamer, a long, black wake of smoke hangingamong the clouds at the horizon betrays her proximity long before thehull is sighted. All eyes are on the watch until she comes clearlywithin the line of vision, gradually increasing in size and distinctnessof outline, until presently the spars and rigging are minutelydelineated. Then speculation is rife as to whence she comes and whereshe is going. By and by the two ships approach so near that signal flagscan be read, and the captains talk with each other, exchanging names,whither bound, and so on. Then each commander dips his flag incompliment to the other, and the ships rapidly separate. All of this iscommonplace enough, but serves to while away an hour, and insures areport of our progress and safety at the date of meeting, when thestranger reaches his port of destination.

We have spoken of the pleasure experienced at sea in watchingintelligently the various phases of the moon. The subject is a prolificone; a whole chapter might be written upon it.

It is perhaps hardly realized by the average landsman, and indeed byfew who constantly cross the ocean, with their thoughts and interestsabsorbed by the many attractive novelties of the ocean, how important apart this great luminary plays in the navigation of a ship. It is to theintelligent and observant mariner the never-failing watch of the sky,the stars performing the part of hands to designate the proper figureupon the dial. If there is occasion to doubt the correctness of hischronometer, the captain of the ship can verify its figures or correctthem by this planet. Every minute that the chronometer is wrong,assuming that it be so, may put him fifteen miles out of his reckoning,which, under some circ*mstances, might prove to be a fatal error, evenleading to the loss of his ship and all on board. To find his preciselocation upon the ocean, the navigator requires both Greenwich time andlocal meridian time, the latter obtained by the sun on shipboard,exactly at midday. To get Greenwich time by lunar observation, thecaptain, for example, finds that the moon is three degrees from the starRegulus. By referring to his nautical almanac he sees recorded there theGreenwich time at which the moon was three degrees from that particularstar. He then compares his chronometer with these figures, and eitherconfirms or corrects its indication. It is interesting to the travelerto observe and understand these important resources, which science hasbrought to bear in perfecting his safety on the ocean, promoting theinterests of commerce, and in aid of correct navigation. The experiencedcaptain of a ship now lays his course as surely by compass, aftersatisfying himself by these various means of his exact position, asthough the point of his destination was straight before him all thewhile, and visible from the pilot house.

How indescribable is the grandeur of these serene nights on theocean, fanned by the somnolent trade winds; a little lonely, perhaps,but so blessed with the hallowed benediction of the moonlight, sogorgeously decorated by the glittering images of the studded heavens, sosweet and pure and fragrant is the breath of the sleeping wind! If onelistens intently, there seems to come to the senses a whispering of thewaves, as though the sea in confidence would tell its secrets to awilling ear.

The ship heads almost due south after leaving Barbadoes, when herdestination is, as in our case, Pará, twelve hundred miles away. On thiscourse we encounter the equatorial current, which runs northward at arate of two miles in an hour, and at some points reaches a much higherrate of speed.

As eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so eternal scrubbing isthe price of cleanliness on shipboard. The deck hands are at it fromfive o'clock in the morning until sunset. Our good ship looks as if shehad just come out of dock. Last night's gale, which in its angry turmoiltossed us about so recklessly, covered her with a saline, stickydeposit; but with the rising of the sun all this disappears as if bymagic. The many brass mountings shine with dazzling lustre, and thewhite paint contrasts with the well-tarred cordage which forms thestanding rigging.

While the ship pursues her course through the far-reaching ocean, letus sketch in outline the general characteristics of South America,whither we are bound.

It is a country containing twice the area, though not quite one halfthe amount of population, of the United States, a land which, though nowpresenting nearly all phases of civilization, was four centuries agomostly inhabited by nomadic tribes of savages, who knew nothing of thehorse, the ox, or the sheep, which to-day form so great and important asource of its wealth, and where wheat, its prevailing staple, was alsounknown. It is a land overflowing with native riches, which possesses anunlimited capacity of production, and whose large and increasingpopulation requires just such domestic supplies as we of the north canprofitably furnish. The important treaty of reciprocity, so latelyarranged between the giant province of Brazil—or rather we shouldsay the Republic of Brazil—and our own country, is alreadydeveloping new and increasing channels of trade for our shippers andproducers of the great staples, as well as throwing open to us a newnation of consumers for our special articles of manufacture. Facts speaklouder than words. On the voyage in which the author sailed in theVigilancia, she took over twenty thousand barrels of flour to Brazilfrom the United States, and would have taken more had her capacityadmitted. Every foot of space on board was engaged for the returnvoyage, twelve thousand bags of coffee being shipped from Rio Janeiroalone, besides nearly as large a consignment of coffee from Santos, inthe same republic. The great mutual benefit which must accrue from thisfriendly compact with an enterprising foreign country can hardly beoverestimated. These considerations lead to a community of interests,which will grow by every reasonable means of familiarizing the people ofthe two countries with each other. Hence the possible and practicalvalue of such a work as the one in hand.

By briefly consulting one of the many cheap and excellent maps of thewestern hemisphere, the patient reader will be enabled to follow theroute taken by the author with increased interest and a clearerunderstanding.

It is surprising, in conversing with otherwise intelligent andwell-informed people, to find how few there are, comparatively speaking,who have any fixed and clear idea relative to so large a portion of thehabitable globe as South America. The average individual seems to knowless 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 inthe Argentine Republic, across the wild pampas, to the base of the Andesin a Pullman palace car. There is no part of the globe concerning whichso little is written, and no other portion which is not more sought bytravelers; in short, it is less known to the average North American thanNew Zealand or Australia.

The vast peninsula which we call South America is connected with ourown part of the continent by the Isthmus of Panama and the territorydesignated as Central America. Its configuration is triangular, andexhibits in many respects a strong similarity to the continents ofAfrica and Australia, if the latter gigantic island may be called acontinent. It extends north and south nearly five thousand miles, orfrom latitude 12° 30' north to Cape Horn in latitude 55° 59' south. Itsgreatest width from east to west is a little over three thousand miles,and its area, according to the best authorities, is nearly seven millionsquare miles. Three fourths of this country lie in the torrid zone,though as a whole it has every variety of climate, from equatorial heatto the biting frosts of alpine peaks. Its widespread surface consistsprincipally of three immense plains, watered respectively by the Amazon,Plate, and Orinoco rivers. This spacious country has a coast line ofover sixteen thousand miles on the two great oceans, with comparativelyfew indentures, headlands, or bays, though at the extreme south itconsists 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 thisgiant peninsula, from the Strait of Magellan to the Isthmus of Panama, adistance of forty-five hundred miles, forming one of the most remarkablephysical features of the globe, and presenting the highest mountains onits surface, except those of the snowy Himalayas which separate Indiafrom Thibet. The principal range of the Andes runs nearly parallel withthe Pacific coast, at an average distance of about one hundred milesfrom it, and contains several active volcanoes. If we were to believe alate school geography, published in London, Cotopaxi, one famous peak ofthis Andean range, throws up flames three thousand feet above the brinkof its crater, which is eighteen thousand feet above tide water; but tobe on the safe side, let us reduce these extraordinary figures at leastone half, as regards the eruptive power of Cotopaxi. This mountainchain, near the border between Chili and Peru, divides into twobranches, the principal one still called the Cordillera of the Andes,and the other, nearer to the ocean, the Cordillera de la Costa. Betweenthese ranges, about three thousand feet above the sea, is a vasttable-land with an area larger than that of France.

It will be observed that we are dealing with a country which, likeour own, is one of magnificent distances. It is difficult for thenations of the old world, where the population is hived together in suchcirc*mscribed space, to realize the geographical extent of the Americancontinent. When informed that it required six days and nights, atexpress speed upon well-equipped railroads, to cross the United Statesfrom ocean to ocean, a certain editor in London doubted the statement.Outside of Her Majesty's dominions, the average Englishman has onlysuperficial ideas of geography. The frequent blunders of some Britishnewspapers in these matters are simply ridiculous.

It should be understood that South America is a land of plains aswell as of lofty mountains, having the llanos of the Orinocoregion, the selvas of the Amazon, and the pampas of theArgentine Republic. The llanos are composed of a region about as largeas the New England States, so level that the motion of the rivers canhardly be discerned. The selvas are for the most part vast unbrokenforests, in which giant trees, thick undergrowth, and entwining creeperscombine to form a nearly impenetrable region. The pampas lie between theAndes and the Atlantic Ocean, stretching southward from northern Brazilto southern Patagonia, affording grass sufficient to feed innumerableherds of wild cattle, but at the extreme south the country sinks intohalf overflowed marshes and lagoons, resembling the glades and savannahsof Florida.

The largest river in the world, namely, the Amazon, rises in thePeruvian Andes, within sixty miles of the Pacific Ocean, and flowsthousands of miles in a general east-northeast direction, finallyemptying into the Atlantic Ocean. This unequaled river course isnavigable for over two thousand miles from its mouth, which is situatedon the equatorial line, where its outflow is partially impeded by theisland of Marajo, a nearly round formation, one hundred and fifty milesor thereabouts in diameter. This remarkable island divides the river'soutlet into two passages, the largest of which is a hundred and fiftymiles in width, forming an estuary of extraordinary dimensions. TheAmazon has twelve tributaries, each one of which is a thousand miles inlength, not to count its hundreds of smaller ones, while the main streamaffords water communication from the Atlantic Ocean to near thefoothills of the Andes.

We are simply stating a series of condensed geographical facts, fromwhich the intelligent reader can form his own deductions as regards theundeveloped possibilities of this great southland.

Our own mammoth river, the Mississippi, is a comparatively shallowstream, with a shifting channel and dangerous sandbanks, which impedenavigation throughout the most of its course; while the Amazon shows anaverage depth of over one hundred feet for the first thousand miles ofits flow from the Atlantic, forming inland seas in many places, sospacious that the opposite banks are not within sight of each other. Itis computed by good authority that this river, with its numerousaffluents, forms a system of navigable water twenty-four thousand milesin length! There are comparatively few towns or settlements of anyimportance on the banks of the Amazon, which flows mostly through adense, unpeopled evergreen forest, not absolutely without human beings,but for very long distances nearly so. Wild animals, anacondas and otherreptiles, together with many varieties of birds and numerous tribes ofmonkeys, make up the animal life. Now and again a settlement of Europeancolonists is found, or a rude Indian village is seen near the banks, butthey are few and far between. There are occasional regions of low,marshy ground, which are malarious at certain seasons, but the averagecountry is salubrious, and capable of supporting a population ofmillions.

This is only one of the large rivers of South America; there are manyothers of grand proportions. The Plate comes next to it in magnitude,having a length of two thousand miles, and being navigable for one halfthe distance from its mouth at all seasons. It is over sixty miles wideat Montevideo, and is therefore the widest known river. Like the greatstream already described, it traverses a country remarkable for thefertility of its soil, but very thinly settled. The Plate carries to theocean four fifths as much, in volume of water, as does the mightyAmazon, the watershed drained by it exceeding a million and a halfsquare miles. One can only conceive of the true magnitude of suchfigures when applied to the land by comparing the number of square milescontained in any one European nation, or any dozen of our ownStates.

Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the estuary of the Plate in 1508, andbelieved it at that time to be a gulf, but on a second voyage fromEurope, in 1516, he ascended the river a considerable distance, andcalled it Mar Dulce, on account of the character of the waters.Unfortunately, this intelligent discoverer was killed by Indian arrowson attempting to land at a certain point. For a considerable period theriver was called after him, and we think should have continued to be so,but its name was changed to the Plate on account of the conspicuoussilver ornaments worn in great profusion by the natives, which theyfreely exchanged for European gewgaws.

Though nearly four hundred years have passed since its discovery, alarge portion of the country still remains comparatively unexplored,much of it being a wilderness sparsely inhabited by Indians, many ofwhom are without a vestige of civilization. We know as little ofportions of the continent as we do of Central Africa, yet there is nosection of the globe which suggests a greater degree of physicalinterest, or which would respond more readily and profitably tointelligent effort at development. When the Spaniards first came toSouth America, it was only in Peru, the land of the Incas, that theyfound natives who had made any substantial progress in civilization. Theearliest history extant relating to this region of the globe is that ofthe Incas, a warlike race of sun-worshipers, who possessed enormoustreasures of gold and silver, and who erected magnificent templesenriched with the precious metals. It was the almost fabulous wealth ofthe Incas that led to their destruction, tempting the cupidity of theavaricious Spaniards, and causing them to institute a system of cruelty,oppression, robbery, and bloodshed which finally obliterated an entirepeople from the face of the globe. The empire of the Incas extended fromQuito, in Ecuador (on the equator), to the river Monté in Chili, andeastward to the Andes. The romantic career of Pizarro and Cortez isfamiliar to us all. There are few palliating circ*mstances connectedwith the advent of the Spaniards, either here, in the West Indies, or inMexico. The actual motive which prompted their invasion of this foreignsoil was to search for mineral treasures, though policy led them tocover their bloodthirsty deeds with a pretense of religious zeal. Theirfirst acts were reckless, cruel, and sanguinary, followed by asystematic oppression of the native races which was an outrage uponhumanity. The world at large profited little by the extortion and goldenharvest reaped by Spain, to realize which she adopted a policy ofextermination, both in Peru and in Mexico; but let it be remembered thather own national ruin was brought about with poetical justice by thevery excess of her ill-gotten, blood-stained treasures. The Spanishhistorians tell us, as an evidence of the persistent bravery of theirancestors, that it took them eight hundred years of constant warfare towrest Spain from her Moorish conquerors. It is for us to remind them howbrief has been the continuance of their glory, how rapid their declinefrom splendid continental and colonial possessions to their presentcondition, that of the weakest and most insignificant power inEurope.

There are localities which have been visited by adventurousexplorers, especially in Chili and Peru, where ruins have been found,and various monuments of antiquity examined, of vast interest toarchæologists, but of which scarcely more than their mere existence isrecorded. Some of these ruins are believed to antedate by centuries theperiod of the Incas, and are supposed to be the remains of tribes which,judging from their pottery and other domestic utensils, were possibly ofAsiatic 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 substantialremains of some grand temples are still to be seen on the islands nearthe borders of the lake, the decaying masonry decked here and there witha wild growth of hardy cactus. This remarkable body of water, LakeTiticaca, in the mountain range of Peru, lies more than twelve thousandfeet above the level of the Pacific; yet it never freezes, and itsaverage depth is given as six hundred feet, representing an immense bodyof water. It covers an area of four thousand square miles, which isabout four fifths as large as our own Lake Ontario, the average depthbeing about the same. Titicaca is the largest lake in the worldoccupying 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 thingsconsidered, we are disposed to believe this an overestimate. There aretribes far inland who are not brought in contact with civilization atall, and whose numbers are not known. The magnitude and density of theforests are remarkable; they cover, it is intelligently stated, nearlytwo thirds of the country. The vegetation, in its various forms, is richbeyond comparison. Professor Agassiz, who explored the valley of theAmazon under the most favorable auspices, tells us that he found withinan area of half a mile square over one hundred species of trees, amongwhich were nearly all of the choicest cabinet and dye woods known to thetropics, besides others suitable for shipbuilding. Some of these treesare 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 tocommerce. From Brazil comes four fifths of the world's supply of the rawmaterial of rubber.

The great fertility of the soil generally would seem to militateagainst the true progress of the people of South America, absolutelydiscouraging, rather than stimulating national industry. One cannot butcontrast the state of affairs in this respect with that of NorthAmerica, where the soil is so much less productive, and where theclimate is so universally rigorous. The deduction is inevitable that, tofind man at his best, we must observe him where his skill, energy, andperseverance are all required to achieve a livelihood, and not whereexuberant nature is over-indulgent, over-productive. The coast, thevalleys, and indeed the main portion of South America are tropical, buta considerable section of the country is so elevated that its climate isthat of perpetual spring, resembling the great Mexican plateau, bothphysically and as regards temperature. The population is largely ofSpanish descent, and that language is almost universally spoken, thoughPortuguese is the current tongue in Brazil. These languages are sosimilar, in fact, that the people of the two nations can easilyunderstand each other. It is said to be true that, in the wild regionsof the country, there are tribes of Indians found to-day living close toeach other, separated by no physical barriers, who differ materially inlanguage, physiognomy, manners, and customs, having absolutely nothingin common but their brown or copper colored skins. Furthermore, thesetribes live most frequently in deadly feuds with each other. Thatcannibalism is still practiced among these interior tribes is positivelybelieved, especially among some of the tribes of the extreme south, thatis, among the Patagonians and the wild, nomadic race of Terra del Fuego.These two tribes, on opposite sides of the Strait of Magellan, are quitedifferent from each other in nearly every respect, especially in size,nor will they attempt to hold friendly intercourse of any sort with eachother.

There are certain domestic animals which are believed to be improvedby crossing them with others of a different type, but this does not seemto apply, very often, advantageously to different races of human beings.It is plain enough in South America that the amalgamation of foreignersand natives rapidly effaces the original better qualities of each, theresult being a mongrel, nondescript type, hard to analyze and hard toimprove. That keen observer, Professor Agassiz, especially noticed thisduring his year of scientific research in Brazil. This has also been theauthor's experience, as illustrated in many lands, where strictlydifferent races, the one highly civilized, the other barbarian, haveunitedly produced children. It is a sort of amalgamation which naturedoes not favor, recording her objections in an unmistakable manner. Itis the flow of European emigration towards these southern republicswhich will infuse new life and progress among them. The aboriginal raceis slowly receding, and fading out, as was the case in Australia, in NewZealand, and in the instance of our western Indians. A new people willeventually possess the land, composed of the several Europeannationalities, who are already the virtual masters of South America sofar as regards numbers, intelligence, and possession.

Since these notes were written, the Argentine government has sold toBaron Hirsch three thousand square leagues of land in the province ofChaco, for the formation of a Jewish colony. Agents are already at work,aided by competent engineers and practical individuals, in preparing forthe early reception of the new occupants of the country. The firstcontingent, of about one thousand Jews, have already arrived and arebecoming domesticated. Argentina wants men perhaps more than money;indeed, one will make the other. A part of Baron Hirsch's scheme is tolend these people money, to be repaid in small installments extendingover a considerable period. For this extensive territory the Baron paidone million three hundred thousand dollars in gold, thus making himselfthe owner of the largest connected area of land in the world possessedby a single individual. It exceeds that of the kingdom ofMontenegro.

As to the zoölogy of this part of the continent, it is different fromthat of Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. The number of dangerousbeasts of prey is quite limited. There is nothing here to answer to theAfrican lion, the Asiatic tiger, the elephant of Ceylon, or the grislybear of Alaska. The jaguar is perhaps the most formidable animal, andresembles the leopard. There are also the cougar, tiger-cat, black bear,hyena, wolf, and ocelot. The llama, alpaca, and vicuña are peculiar tothis country. The monkey tribe exceeds all others in variety and number.There are said to be nearly two hundred species of them in SouthAmerica, each distinctly marked, and varying from each other, in size,from twelve pounds to less than two. The smallest of the littlemarmosets weigh less than a pound and a half each, and are the mostintelligent animal of their size known to man. There are also the deer,tapir, armadillo, anteater, and a few other minor animals. The pampasswarm with wild cattle and horses, descended from animals originallybrought from Europe. In the low, marshy grounds the boa-constrictor andother reptiles abound. Eagles, vultures, and parrots are found in a wildstate all over the country, while the rivers and the waters near thecoast are well filled with fish, crocodiles, and turtles. Scientistshave found over two thousand species of fish in the Amazon Riveralone.

The pure aboriginal race are copper colored, resembling the Mexicansin character and appearance. Like most natives of equatorial regions,they are indolent, ignorant, superstitious, sensuous, and by no meanswarlike. Forced into the ranks and drilled by Europeans, they makefairly good soldiers, and when well led will obey orders and fight.There can be no esprit de corps in soldiers thus organized; themen neither know nor care what they fight for, their incentive in actionbeing first a natural instinct for brutality, and second the promise ofbooty. In some parts of the country the half-breeds show themselvesskillful workmen in certain simple lines of manufacture, but the nativepure and simple will not work except to keep from starving.

The Spaniards conquered nearly all parts of South America exceptBrazil, which was subject to Portugal until 1823, when it achieved itsindependence. The Spanish colonies also revolted, one by one, until theyall became independent of the mother country. The history of theserepublics, as in the instance of Mexico, has been both stormy andsanguinary. Foreign and civil wars have reigned among them incessantlyfor half a century and more.

The present political divisions are: Brazil, British Guiana, DutchGuiana, French Guiana, Ecuador, United States of Colombia, Venezuela,Bolivia, Chili, Peru, Argentine Republic, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Brazilis the most extensive of these states, and is thought to enjoy thelargest share of natural advantages, including in its area nearly onehalf as many square miles as all the rest combined. Its seaboard atParahiba, and for hundreds of miles north and south of it, projects intothe Atlantic a thousand miles to the east of the direct line between itsnorthern and southern extremities. Besides her diamond and gold mines,she possesses what is much more desirable, namely, valuable deposits ofiron, copper, silver, and other metals. We have before us statisticswhich give the result of diamond mining in Brazil from 1740 to 1823,when national independence was won, which show the aggregate for thatentire period to have been less than ten million dollars in value; whilethat of the coffee alone, exported from Rio Janeiro in one year,exceeded twenty million dollars, showing that, however dazzling theprecious stones may appear in the abstract, they are not even ofsecondary consideration when compared with the agricultural products ofthe country. The export of coffee has increased very much since the year1851, which happens to be that from which we have quoted. It must alsobe admitted that probably twice the amount of diamonds recorded wereactually found and enriched somebody, all which were duly reported,having to pay a government royalty according to the pecuniary exigencyof those in authority.

The population of Brazil is between fourteen and fifteen million, andit is thought to be more advanced in civilization than other parts ofSouth America, though in the light of our own experience we should placethe Argentine Republic first in this respect. Indeed, so far as atransient observer may speak, we are inclined to place Argentina far andaway in advance of Brazil as regards everything calculated to invite thewould-be emigrant who is in search of a new home in a foreign land. Wereit not that intestine wars are of such frequent occurrence among thesestates, and national bankruptcy so common, voluntary emigration wouldtend towards South America in far larger numbers than it does now. Therevolutions are solely to promote personal aggrandizement; it isindividual interest, not principle, for which these people fight sooften. Unfortunately, every fresh outbreak throws the country back afull decade as regards national progress. The late civil wars in Chiliand the Argentine Republic are illustrations in point. The first-namedsection of South America has suddenly sunk from a condition ofremarkable pecuniary prosperity to one of actual poverty. Thousands ofvaluable lives have been sacrificed, an immense amount of property hasbeen destroyed, her commerce crippled, and for the time being paralyzed.Ten years of peace and reasonable prosperity could hardly restore Chilito the position she was in twelve months ago. The country is to-day in aterrible condition, while many of the best families mourn the death of afather, a son, or both, whose lives have been sacrificed to the madambition of a usurper. Numerous families, once rich, have now becomeimpoverished by the confiscation of their entire property. The Chiliansdo not carry on warfare in European style, by organized armies; there isa semblance only of such bodies. The fighting is mostly after thefashion of free lances, guerrilla bands, and highwaymen. There seems tobe no sense of honor or chivalry among the common people, while the onlyidea of the soldiery is to plunder and destroy.

The Peruvians whose cities were despoiled by Chili must have regardedthe recent cutting of each other's throats by the Chilian soldiery withsomething like grim satisfaction.

The obvious weakness of the South American states lies in theirbitter rivalry towards each other, a condition which might be at onceobviated by their joining together to form one united nation. Theinstability which characterizes their several governments in theirpresent isolated interests has passed into a byword. Divided into nineunimportant states,—leaving out the three Guianas, which aredependent upon European powers,—any one of them could be erasedfrom the map and absorbed by its stronger neighbor, or by a covetousforeign power. On the contrary, by forming one grand republic, it wouldstand eighth in the rank of nations as regards wealth, importance, andpower, amply able to take care of itself, and to maintain the integrityof its territory. A community of interest would also be establishedbetween our government and that of these South American provinces, whichwould be of immense commercial and political importance to bothnations.

To those who have visited the country, and who have carefullyobserved the conditions, it is clear that this division of the continentwill never thrive and fully reap the benefit of its great naturaladvantages until the independent republics assume the position ofsovereign states, subservient to a central power, a purpose which hasalready been so successfully accomplished in Mexico.

While we have been considering the great southern continent as awhole, our good ship, having crossed the equator, has been rapidlyapproaching its northern shore. After entering the broad mouth of theAmazon and ascending its course for many miles, we are now in sight ofthe thriving metropolis of Pará.

CHAPTER V.

City of Pará.—The EquatorialLine.—Spanish History.—The King of Waters.—PrivateGardens.—Domestic Life in Northern Brazil.—DeliciousPineapples.—Family Pets.—OperaHouse.—Mendicants.—A Grand Avenue.—BotanicalGarden.—India-Rubber Tree.—Gathering the RawMaterial.—Monkeys.—The Royal Palm.—Splendor ofEquatorial Nights.

Pará is the most northerly city of Brazil. It also bearsthe name of Belem on some maps, and is the capital of a province of thefirst designation. The full official title of the place is, in the usualstyle of Portuguese and Spanish hyperbole, Santa Maria do Belem do GrãoPará, which has fortunately and naturally simplified itself to Pará. Itwas founded in 1615, and the province of which it is the capital was thelast in Brazil to declare its independence of the mother country, and toacknowledge the authority of the first emperor, Dom Pedro. It is thelargest political division of the republic, and in some respects themost thriving. The city is situated about ninety miles south of theequator, and eighty miles from the Atlantic Ocean on the Pará River, socalled, but which is really one of the mouths of the Amazon. It is thusthe principal city at the mouth of the largest river in the world, afact quite sufficient to indicate its present, and to insure itscontinued commercial importance.

As we entered the muddy estuary of the river, whose wide expanse waslashed into short, angry waves by a strong wind, large tree trunks wereseen floating seaward, rising and sinking on the undulating surface ofthe water. Some were quite entire, with all of their branches stillattached to the main trunk. They came, perhaps, from two thousand milesinland, borne upon the swift current from where it had undermined theroots in their forest home. Among the rest was a cocoa-palm with itsfull tufted head, some large brown nuts still hanging tenaciously to theparent stem. It had fallen bodily, while in its prime and full bearing,suddenly unearthed by some swift deviation of the river, which brooks notrifling impediment to its triumphal march seaward. How long, one wouldbe glad to know, has this vast stream, fed by the melted snow of theAndes, poured its accumulated waters into the bosom of the ocean? Athousand years is but as a day, in reckoning the age of a mountain rangeor of a mammoth river.

As we approached the city, the channel became gradually narrowed byseveral prominent islands, crowded with rich green vegetation, foresttrees of various sorts, mangoes, bananas, and regal palms. Though it isthus broken by islands, the river is here over twenty miles inwidth.

Pará is yielded precedence over the other cities on the east coast ofSouth America in many respects, and is appreciatively called "Queen ofthe Amazon," her water communication reaching into the very heart ofsome of the most fertile valleys on the continent. One incorporatedcompany has established a score of well-appointed steamers, averagingfive hundred tons each, which navigate the river for a distance of twothousand miles from its mouth. Pará has an excellent harbor, of largecapacity, accommodating an extensive commerce, a considerable portion ofwhich is with the United States of North America. It has a mixedpopulation of about fifty thousand, composed of an amalgamation ofPortuguese, Italians, Indians, and negroes, and is the only town of anyimportance, except Quito, situated so near to the equatorial line,where the interested observer has the privilege of beholding the starryconstellations of both hemispheres. Ships of five thousand tonsmeasurement can lie within a hundred yards of the wharves of Pará, wherethe accumulation of coffee, dyewoods, drugs, tobacco, cotton, cocoa,rice, sugar, and raw india-rubber, indicates the character of theprincipal exports. Of all these staples, the last named is the mostimportant, in a commercial point of view, occupying the third place onthe list of national exports. As we have shown, the import and exporttrade of the Amazon valley naturally centres here, and Pará need fear nocommercial rival.

For a considerable period this unequaled water-way, forming thespacious port, and conveying the drainage of nearly half of SouthAmerica into the Atlantic, bore the name of its discoverer, Orellana,one of Pizarro's captains; but the fabulous story of a priest calledFriar Gaspar, self-constituted chronicler of the expedition, gave to itthe designation which it now bears. All the Spanish records of thehistory and conquests in the New World, relating to the doings ofColumbus, Cortez, Pizarro, and others, without an exception, werewritten in the same spirit of exaggeration and untruthfulness, leadingthat pious witness and contemporary writer, Las Casas, to pronouncethem, with honest indignation, to be a tissue of falsehoods. Even ourown popular historian, Prescott, who drew so largely upon these sourcesfor his poetical productions, was forced to admit their manifestincongruities, contradictions, and general irresponsibility. ThisMunchausen of a priest, Friar Gaspar, recorded that a tribe of Amazons,or fighting women, was encountered far inland, on the banks of themighty river, who were tall in stature, symmetrical in form, and had aprofusion of long hair, which hung in braids down their backs. They wererepresented to be as warlike as they were beautiful, and as carryingshields and spears, the latter of which they could use with great skilland effect. It was this foolish story of the Amazons, hatched in theprolific brain of Friar Gaspar, which gave the river its lastingname.

The Indian designation of the mammoth watercourse was significant andappropriate, as their names always are. They called itParana-tinga, meaning "King of Waters," and it seems to us agreat pity that the name could not have been retained.

Pará has the advantage of being much nearer to the United States andto Europe than Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil. Though the commerceof Rio is constantly increasing, in spite of its miserable sanitarycondition, it is confidently believed by intelligent persons engaged inthe South American trade, that Pará will equal it erelong in theaggregate of its shipments. All freight is now landed by means oflighters, a process which is an awkward drawback upon commerce, and whatmakes it still more aggravating is that it seems to be an entirelyneedless one. Certainly a good, substantial, capacious pier might beeasily built, which would obviate this objection, accommodating a dozenlarge vessels at the same time. The Brazilians are slow to adopt anymodern improvement. Portuguese and Spaniards are very much alike in thisrespect. Wharves will be built at Pará by and by, after a few moremillions have been wasted upon the inconvenient process now in vogue,which involves not only needless expense, but causes most awkward andunreasonable delay, both in landing merchandise and in shipping freightfor export. This serious objection applies to all the ports along theeast coast of South America. There is always some private interest whichexerts itself to prevent any progressive movement, and it is this whichretards improved facilities for unloading and shipping of cargoes atPará. In this instance the owners of the steam tugs which tow theflat-bottomed lighters from ship to shore, and vice versa, oppose thebuilding of piers, because, if they were in existence, these individualswould find their profitable occupation gone. If proper wharf facilitieswere to be furnished, commerce generally would be much benefited, thougha few persons would suffer some pecuniary loss. As we have said, thewharves will come by and by, when the people realize that privateinterest must be subservient to the public good.

The city of Pará is situated upon slightly elevated ground, and makesa fine appearance from the river, with its lofty cathedral, numerouschurches, convents, custom house, and arsenal standing forth in boldrelief against an intensely blue sky, while fronting the harbor, like aline of sentinels, is a row of tall, majestic palms, harmonizingadmirably with the local surroundings, though in the very midst of abusy commercial centre. The buildings are painted yellow, blue, or pink,the façades contrasting strongly with the dark red of the heavily tiledroofs, which, having no chimneys, present an odd appearance to anorthern eye. Here and there a mass of greenery indicates some domesticgarden, or a plaza presided over by tall groups of trees, among whichthe thick, umbrageous mangoes prevail. The Rua da Imperatriz is theprincipal wholesale street of the city, where the large warehouses areto be found, but the Rua dos Mercadores is the fashionable shoppingstreet, through which the tramway also passes. The shops are rathersmall, but have a fair stock of goods offered at reasonable rates,though strangers are apt to be victimized by considerably higher pricesthan a native would pay.

This, however, is not unusual in all foreign countries, so far as ourexperience goes. North Americans are looked upon as possessing unlimitedpecuniary means, and as lavish in their expenditures, prices beinggauged accordingly. This is a universal practice in Europe, andespecially so in Germany.

The climate is very moist, and it has been facetiously remarked thatit rains here eight days in the week. One cannot speak approvingly ofthe sanitary condition of a place where turkey buzzards are dependedupon to remove the garbage which accumulates in the thoroughfares. It isunaccountable that the citizens should submit to such filthysurroundings, especially in a locality where malarial fever isacknowledged to prevail in the summer season. Though at this writing itis the latter part of May, yellow fever is still rife here, and we hearof many particularly sad cases, ending fatally, all about us. Thisdestroyer is especially apt to carry off people who have newly arrivedin the country. The present year has been unusually fatal among theresidents of Pará, as regards yellow fever, which seems to linger longerand longer each year of its visitation. Our own conviction is that thepeople have themselves to thank for this lingering of the pest into thewinter months, since the sanitary conditions of the place areinexcusably defective.

Gardens in and about the city quickly catch and delight theeye,—gardens where flowers and fruits grow in great luxuriance.Among the latter are oranges, mangoes, guavas, figs, and bananas. Theglossy green fronds of the bananas throw other verdure altogether intothe shade, while in dignity and beauty the cocoanut palms excel allother trees. The tall, straight stem of the palm rises from the rootswithout leaf or branch until the plumed head is reached, which bendsslightly under its wealth of pinnated leaves and fruit combined. If youhappen to pass these gardens after nightfall, especially those in theimmediate environs of the city, mark the phosphorescent clouds ofdancing lights which fill the still atmosphere round about thevegetation. This peculiar effect is produced by the busy cucuios, ortropical fireflies, each vigorously flashing its individual torch. Dothey shine thus in the daytime, we are led to wonder, like theconstellations in the heavens, though hidden by the greater light of thesun? They are always demonstrative in the night, be it never so cloudy,foggy, or damp in the low latitudes. They keep their sparkling revels,their torchlight dances, all heedless of the grim and deadly fever whichlurks in the surrounding atmosphere, claiming human victims right andleft, among high and low, from the ranks of age and of youth. Insectlife is redundant here. It is the very paradise of butterflies, whosesize, wide spread of wing, variety, and striking beauty of colors, wehave only seen equaled at Penang and Singapore, in the Malacca Straits.Some of the avenues leading to the environs are lined with handsometrees, which add greatly to their attractiveness and comfort. The silkcotton tree and the almond are favorites here as ornamental shade trees.The cape jessamine is universally cultivated at Pará, and grows to alarge size, filling the air with its agreeable fragrance. Here theoleander, covered with clusters of bloom, grows to the height of twentyfeet and more. The lime, with its fine acid fruit, which is in greatrequest in making cooling drinks, also abounds.

The glimpses of domestic life which one gets in passing the betterclass of dwellings reveal rooms with tiled or polished wooden floors,cane-finished chairs, sofas, and rockers to match, a small foot rug hereand there, a group of flowering plants in one corner, while hammocksseem to take the place of bedsteads. The temperature is high at Pará insummer, and woolen carpets, or even mattresses, are too warm for use inthis climate. Bignonias, oleanders, and other blooming plants abound inthe flower-plots about the city, besides many flowering vines which arestrangers to us, half orchids, half creepers. One is apt to jump atconclusions. These people dearly love flowers, so we conclude theycannot be very wicked.

The families live, as it were, in the open patios, which form thecentres of their dwellings, are shaded by broad verandas, and upon whichthe domestic apartments all open. The accessories are few, and notentirely convenient, according to a northerner's ideas of comfort; butthis is compensated for by the fragrance of flowers, the picturesquenessof the surroundings, and the free and easy out-of-door atmosphere whichignores conventionalities. These attractive interiors suggest a sort ofpicnic mode of life which has conformed itself to climatic influences.Everything is very quiet, there is no hurry, and the stillness isoccasionally interrupted by the musical laughter of children, whichrings out clear and pleasantly, entirely in harmony with thesurroundings. And such children! Artists' models, every one of them. Itall seems to a stranger to be the very poetry of living, yet we ventureto say that each household has its skeleton in the closet, and some awhole anatomical museum!

At Bahia, further south, a revelation awaits the traveler in thedelicious richness, size, and delicacy of the oranges which grow therein lavish abundance, and which are famous, all along the coast. Here atPará, the same may be said of the pineapple, the raising of which is alocal specialty. These are not picked until fully ripe, and often weighten pounds each. When cut open, the inside can be eaten with a spoon, ifone fancies that mode. They require no sugar; nature has supplied thesaccharine principle in abundance. They are absolutely perfect inthemselves alone. People sailing northward lay in a great store of thisadmirable fruit, which is as cheap as it is delicious and appetizing. InNew England, the pines of which we partake have been picked in a greencondition in Bermuda, the Bahamas, or Florida, to enable them to beartransportation. They ripen only partially off the stem, and after a verypoor style, decay setting in at the same time; consequently the pulp isnot suitable to swallow, and is always more or less indigestible. ThePará pines are seedless, and are propagated by replanting the suckers.The crown, we were told, would also thrive and reproduce the fruit ifproperly planted, but the first named process is that generallyemployed, and is probably the best.

In the neighborhood of Pará are many large and profitable cocoaplantations, the industry connected with which is a growing one,representing a considerable amount of capital. But above all others, thegathering and preparing of raw india-rubber for exportation is theprevailing industry of this Brazilian capital.

The common people seem to be an uncertain mixture of races,confounding all attempts properly to analyze their antecedents. Theyhave touches of refinement and underlying tenderness of instinct, asexhibited in their home associations, but also evince a coarseness whichis not inviting, to say the least. They are universal lovers of petbirds and small animals. No household seems to be complete without somerepresentatives 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 almostevery private garden, full of fun and mischief, and affording infiniteamusem*nt to the youthful members of the household. Young anacondas,sometimes ten feet long, are kept in and about the dwellings, to catchand drive away the rats! The reader smiles half incredulously at this,and we do not wonder. If one of these rodents be caught in a trap andkilled, it is useless to offer it to an anaconda as food. Thatfastidious reptile will eat only such creatures as it kills itself. Thisis also characteristic of the African lion and the tiger of India, whenin 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 forfood. We had never heard of anacondas employed as ratters before we cameto Pará, but we were assured by those who should know that they areespecially 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, extendingover considerable ground space. In the business part of the town,fronting the harbor, the houses are generally two or even three storiesin height, it being necessary in such localities to economize the squarefeet of ground occupied. The same sort of external ornamentation is seenhere as upon the house fronts in Mexico, namely, the profuse decorationof the walls with glazed earthen tiles, often of fancy colors, whichgives a checkerboard appearance to a dwelling-house not calculated toplease a critical eye.

The Opera House of Pará is a large and imposing structure, one of thefinest edifices in the town, and the largest theatre, we believe, inSouth America, quite uncalled for, it would seem, by any local demand.It is built of brick, finished in stucco, the front being decorated withmarble columns having handsome and elaborate Corinthian capitals. Thehouse lights up brilliantly at night, being finished in red, white, andgold. It has four narrow galleries supported upon brackets, thusobviating the necessity for the objectionable upright posts which soprovokingly interfere with the line of sight. The cathedral is asubstantial and handsome structure, with a couple of tall towers, afterthe usual Spanish style, each containing a dozen bells. The interior hasall the florid and tawdry ornamentation always to be found in RomanCatholic churches, together with the usual complement of bleedingfigures, arrow-pierced saints, high-colored paper rosettes, utterlymeaningless, together with any amount of glittering tinsel, calculatedto catch the eye and captivate the imagination of the grossly ignorantnative population.

There are many minor churches in the city, and judging by the numberseen in the streets, there must be at least a thousand priests, whosesole occupation, when they are not gambling or co*ck-fighting, is tocajole and impoverish the common people. It was a church festival whenwe visited the cathedral. There are over two hundred such days, out ofevery three hundred and sixty-five, in Roman Catholiccountries,—not days of humiliation and prayer, but days of grosslatitude, of bull-fights, occasions when the decent amenities of lifeare ignored, days when the broadest license prevails, and all excessesare condoned. There were a large number of women present in thecathedral on this day, but scarcely half a dozen men. The better classwere dressed gayly, and wore some rich jewelry. The love of fineryprevails, and pervades all classes. Some of the ladies were clad incostly silks and laces, set off by brilliants and pearls. Diamonds andprecious stones are very common in this country, and a certain classseem to carry a large share of their worldly possessions showilydisplayed upon their persons. What the humbler class lacked in richnessof material, they made up in gaudy colors, blazing scarfs, and imitationgold and silver jewelry. Nature sets the example of bright colors inthese latitudes, in gaudy plumed birds and high-tinted flowers andfruits. The natives only follow her. The few men who were present cameto ogle the women, and having satisfied their low-bred curiosity, soonretired to the neighboring bar-rooms and gambling saloons. On specialfestal days temporary booths are erected in the squares, in whichintoxicants are sold, together with toys, cakes, cigars, and charms, thelatter said to have been blessed by the priests, and therefore sure toprevent any injury from the evil eye!

As in most of the South American cities, there are several elaboratebuildings here, formerly used as convents, which are now devoted to morecreditable purposes. The present custom house occupies one of theseedifices, which is crowned with two lofty towers.

There are plenty of mendicants in the streets of Pará, who are veryready 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 Pará, as it is also in Havana,Matanzas, Cienfuegos, etc., when every housekeeper who is able to givesomething does so, if it be only a small roll of bread, to each visitingbeggar. At most houses these small rolls are baked regularly for thispurpose, and the applicant is nearly sure to get one upon calling, andif he represents a large family he may receive two. Money is rarely, ifever, given by residents, nor is it expected; but strangers aresurrounded as by an army with banners, and vigorously importuned forcentavos. The Spaniards and Portuguese are natural beggars.

Here let us digress for a moment. The system of beggary prevailing inSpanish countries is very trying to all sensitive travelers. In Italy,Spain, and the south of France, especially at the watering-places, it isa terrible pest. Naples has become almost unendurable on this account.At every rod one is constantly importuned and followed by beggars of allsizes, ages, and of both sexes,—individuals who should be placedin asylums and cared for by the state. No reasonable person would objectto paying a certain sum on entering these resorts, to be honestlydevoted to charitable purposes, provided it would insure him against thedisgusting importunities of which strangers are now the victims.Visitors hasten away from the localities where these things are not onlypermitted but are encouraged. It is thought to be quite the thing tofleece foreigners of every possible penny, and by every possible means.The contrast in this respect between the cities of the United States andthose of Europe and South America is eminently creditable to the former.In the beautiful little watering-place known as Luchon, in the south ofFrance, at the foot of the Pyrenees, with scarcely four thousandinhabitants, there are over one hundred professional beggars, whoconstantly beset and drive away visitors. Some of these, as usual insuch cases, are known to be well off pecuniarily, but are marked by somephysical deformity upon which they trade. If the stranger gives, he isoftenest encouraging a swindle, rarely performing a true charity. Thisis one of the increasing disgraces of Paris. Beggars know too much toimportune citizens, but strangers are beset at every corner of theboulevards 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 themost attractive, and until they are past the age of twenty-five orthirty years they are almost universally handsome, no matter to whatclass they belong. Those who have the advantage of domestic comforts,good food, and delicate associations develop accordingly, and areespecially beautiful. They would make charming artists' models. Theremarkably straight figure of the native women is noticeable, caused bythe practice referred to of carrying burdens on the head. As alreadymentioned, if a negro or Indian woman has an article to transport, evenif it be but a quart bottle, or an umbrella, it is placed at once uponthe head. The article may weigh five pounds or fifty, it is all thesame; everything but the babies is thus transported. These little nakedcreatures, always suggestive of monkeys, are supported on the mother'sback, 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 thedignity of wearing one small garment, an abbreviated shirt orchemise.

The principal food of the common people of northern Brazil is farinaand dried fish, with fried plantains and ripe bananas. Crabs and oystersof a poor description abound along the coast, and are eaten by thepeople, both in a raw and cooked condition. But the white people avoidthe coast oysters, which sometimes poison those not accustomed tothem.

The finest avenue in Pará is the Estrada de São José, bordered bygrand old palms, which form a beautiful perspective and a welcome shade,the feathery tops nearly embracing each other overhead. The tramwaytakes one through the environs by the Rua de Nazareth, for five miles toMarco da Legua, where the public wells of the city are situated. The waythither is lined with neat and handsome dwellings, shaded by nobletrees. The botanical garden is well worth a visit by all lovers ofhorticulture. The forest creeps up towards the environs of the town,wherein many of the trees are rendered beautiful by clinging orchids ofgorgeous blue; others are of blood red, and some of orange yellow,presenting also a great diversity of form. One has not far to go to seespecimens of the india-rubber tree, growing from ninety to a hundredfeet in height, while measuring from four to five feet in diameter. Thistree begins to produce gum at the age of fifteen years. The trunk issmooth and perfectly round, the bark of a buff color. It bears a curiousfruit, of which some animals are said to be fond. The author has seenthe india-rubber tree growing in the island of Ceylon, where it seemedto reach a greater height and dimensions than it does in the district ofPará. A considerable portion of the roots lie above ground, stretchingaway from the base of the tree like huge anacondas, and finallydisappearing in the earth half a rod or more from the parent trunk. Thereader can hardly fail to be familiar with the simple wild plant, whichgrows so abundantly by our New England roadsides, known as themilk-weed, which, when the stem is cut or broken, emits a creamy,pungent smelling liquid. In the latitude of Pará, this little weed, ofthe same family, assumes the form of a colossal tree, and is known asthe india-rubber tree. The United States takes of Brazilian rubber, inthe crude state, over twenty-five thousand tons annually. As to coffee,Brazil supplies one half of all which is consumed in the civilizedworld; but we should frankly tell the reader, if he does not alreadyrealize the fact, that it is most frequently marked and sold for "OldGovernment Java."

The india-rubber tree is tapped annually very much after the samestyle in which we treat the sugar-maple in Vermont, and elsewhere, toprocure its sap. A yellow, creamy liquid flows forth from the rubbertree into small cups placed beneath an incision made in the trunk. Whenthe cup becomes full, its contents is emptied into a large commonreceptacle, where it is allowed to partially harden, and in which formit is called caoutchouc. The tapping of the trees and attending to thegathering of the sap furnish employment to hundreds of the natives, who,however, make but small wages, being employed by contractors, who eitherlease the trees of certain districts, or own large tracts of forestland. These Brazilian forests are very grand, abounding in valuablearomatic plants, precious woods, gaudy birds, and various wild animals.The number of monkeys is absolutely marvelous, including many curiousvarieties. A native will not kill a monkey; indeed, it must be difficultfor a European to make up his mind to shoot a creature so nearly humanin its actions, and whose pleading cries when wounded are said to be sopitiable.

One of the peculiar street sights in Pará is that of native womenwith a dozen young monkeys of different species for sale. Marmosets canbe bought for a quarter of a dollar each. So tame are the littlecreatures that they cling about the woman's person, fastening upon herhair, arms, and neck, not in the least inclined to escape from her. Itis remarkable and interesting to see how very fond they become of theirowner, if he is kind to them. Like the dog and the cat, they seem tohave a strong desire for human companionship. When seen running wild inthe woods, leaping from tree to tree, and from branch to branch, they donot try to get far away from the presence of man, but only to keep, intheir untamed state, just out of reach of his hands. Ships sailing hencegenerally take away a few of these animals, but as they are delicate,and very sensitive to climatic changes, many of them die before reachingEurope or North America.

The great beauty of Pará is its abundance of palm trees. The palm isalways an interesting object, as well as a most valuable one;interesting because of its historical and legendary associations, andvaluable, since it would be almost impossible to enumerate the number ofimportant uses to which it and its products are put. To the people ofthe tropics it is the prolific source of food, shelter, clothing, fuel,fibre for several uses, sugar, oil, wax, and wine. It has been aptlytermed the "princess of the vegetable world." One indigenous species,the Piassaba, is a palm which yields a most valuable fibre, extensivelymanufactured into cordage and ships' cables, for which purpose it ismuch in use on the coast of South America. It is found to be strongerand more elastic than hemp when thus employed, besides which it is farmore durable. The product of this species of palm is also exported inlarge quantities to North America and to England, for the purpose ofmaking brushes, brooms, and various sorts of domestic matting.

The nights are especially beautiful in this region. We wereinterested in observing the remarkable brilliancy of the sky; the starsdo not seem to sparkle, as with us at the north, but shed a soft, steadylight, making all things luminous. This is the natural result of theclearness of the atmosphere. One is surprised at first to find the moonapparently so much increased in size and effulgency. The Southern Crossis ever present, though it is dominated by the Centaur. Orion is seen inhis glory, and the Scorpion is clearly defined. In the author'sestimation, there is no exhibition of the heavens in these regions whichsurpasses the magnificence of the far-reaching Milky Way.

CHAPTER VI.

Island of Marajo.—Rare and BeautifulBirds.—Original Mode of SecuringHumming-Birds.—Maranhão.—Educational.—Value of NativeForests.—Pernambuco.—Difficulty of Landing.—AnIll-chosen Name.—Local Scenes.—Uncleanly Habits of thePeople.—Great Sugar Mart.—Native Houses.—A QuaintHostelry.—Catamarans.—A Natural Breakwater.—Sailingdown the Coast.

The island of Marajo, situated at the mouth of the Amazon,opposite Pará, and belonging to the province or state of that name, is ahundred and eighty miles in length and about one hundred and sixty inwidth, nearly identical in size with the island of Sicily, and almostoval in form. One of the principal shore settlements is Breves, on thesoutheastern corner of the island, which lies somewhat low, and consistsof remarkably fertile soil, so abounding in wild and beautifulvegetation and exquisite floral varieties, that it is called in thisregion "the Island of Flowers." We can easily believe the name to beappropriately chosen, since, as we skirt its verdant shores hour afterhour, they seem to emit the drowsy, caressing sweetness of fragrantflowers so sensibly as to almost produce a narcotic effect. The easterlyor most seaward part of Marajo is open, marshy, sandy land, but backfrom the shore the soil is of a rich, black alluvium, supporting in verylarge tracts a dense forest growth, similar to all the low-lyingtropical lands of South America. The population is recorded as numberingabout twenty thousand, divided into several settlements, mostly on thecoast, and consists largely of the aboriginal race found by the firstcomers upon this island, who, on account of their somewhat isolatedcondition, have amalgamated less with Europeans and the imported coloredrace than any other tribe on the east coast of the continent.

The extensive meadows of Marajo are the grazing fields of numerousherds of wild horses and horned cattle, the former of a superior breed,highly prized on the mainland; and yet so rapidly do they increase inthis climate, in the wild state, that every few years they are killed inlarge numbers for their hides alone. The exports from the island consistof rice, cattle, horses, and hides. There are some large plantationsdevoted to the cultivation of rice, the soil and water supply of certaindistricts being especially favorable to this crop. As intimated, aconsiderable portion of Marajo is covered with a forest growth so denseas to be compared to the jungles of Africa and India, and which, so faras is known, has never been penetrated by the foot of man. Travelers whohave visited the borders of this leafy wilderness expatiate upon thestrange, inexplicable sounds which are heard at times, amid theprevailing 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 one maylisten, is not repeated. Again, there is heard an awful crash, like thefalling of some ponderous forest giant, then stillness once more settlesover the mysterious, tangled woods. Every time the silence is broken itseems to be by some new and inexplicable sound, not to be satisfactorilyaccounted for.

The lagoons near the centre of Marajo are said to abound inalligators, which are sometimes sought for by the natives for theirhides, for which a fair price is realized, since fashion has renderedthis article popular in a hundred different forms. The number andvariety of birds and lesser animals to be found upon the island aremarvelous. Certain species of birds seem to have retreated to this spotfrom the mainland, before the tide of European immigration; indeed, ithas for a long time been considered the paradise of the naturalist. Overthirty species of that peculiar bird, the toucan, have been securedhere.

When Professor Agassiz was engaged in his scientific exploration ofthe Amazon, he dispatched a small but competent party especially toobtain specimens from this island, the result being both a surprise anda source of great gratification to the king of naturalists. Many of theobjects secured by these explorers were rare and beautiful birds, not afew of which are unique, and of which no previous record existed. Therewere also many curious insects and other specimens particularly valuableto naturalists, most of which are preserved to-day in the Agassiz Museumat Cambridge, Massachusetts. The toucan, just spoken of, is mostremarkable for its beauty and variety of colors, as well as for the verypeculiar form and size of its elephantine bill, which makes it looksingularly ill-balanced. This ludicrous appendage is nine inches longand three in circumference; the color is vermilion and yellow delicatelymingled. The toucan is much coveted for special collections by allnaturalists, and is becoming very scarce, except in this one equatoriallocality. Scarlet ibises and roseate spoonbills are also found atMarajo, both remarkably fine examples of semi-aquatic fowl, and whenthese are secured in good condition for preservation, the nativesrealize good prices for them. In order to procure desirable specimens ofthe humming-bird species, which are also abundant on this island, thenative hunters resort to an ingenious device, so as not to injure theskin or the extremely delicate plumage of this butterfly-bird. For thispurpose they use a peculiar syringe made from reeds, and charged with asolution of adhesive gum, which, when directed by an experienced hand,clogs the bird's wings at once, stopping its flight and causing it tofall to the ground. Some are caught by means of nets set on the end oflong bamboo poles, such as are used to secure butterflies, but thismethod is poorly adapted to catch so quick moving a creature as ahumming-bird. The author has seen, in southern India, butterflies ofgaudiest texture with bodies as large as small humming-birds, which werequite as brilliant as they in lovely colors. The variety and beauty ofthis insect, as found anywhere from Tuticorin to Darjeeling, is notable.Wherever British troops are permanently settled, the wives of the commonsoldiers become very expert in catching and arranging these attractiveobjects, preserving them in frames under glass. These find readypurchasers for museums and private collections all over Europe, and aresold at moderate prices, but serve to add a welcome trifle to theextremely poor pay of a common soldier having perhaps a wife and one ortwo children to support.

The island of Marajo was not formed at the Amazon's mouth of soilbrought down from the interior by the river's current, as is often thecase with islands thus situated, but is a natural, rocky formation whichserves to divide the channel and give the river a double outlet into theAtlantic. Agassiz studied its character, and gives us an interestingstatement as the result. He declared, after careful geologicalexamination, 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 thegradual encroachment of the Atlantic Ocean, whose waves and restlesscurrents have slowly worn away the northeastern part of the continent.This abrasion must have been going on for many thousand years, to haveproduced such a decided topographical change. For the word years, uponsecond thought, read ages, which will undoubtedly express the true ideamuch more correctly.

There are over twenty species of palms indigenous to Marajo, which,as one skirts the water front, are seen growing along the far-reachingshore, fostered by the humidity of the atmosphere arising from theever-flowing waters of the great river. Among these the peach-palm isquite conspicuous, with its spiny stems and mealy, nutritious fruit.There are also the cocoa-palm and the assai-palm, the latter gaylydecorated with its delicate green plumes and long spear pointingheavenward, an emblem borne by no other tree in existence. The greatvariety of forms of plant life and giant grasses is extremely curiousand beautiful on this interesting island. We heard, while at Pará, of aproposal made by some European party to thoroughly explore Marajo, whichhas never yet been done, so far as is known to our time, and it isbelieved that some very interesting and valuable discoveries may be theresult of such an expedition, composed of engineers, scientists, andnaturalists.

A day's sail to the eastward, bearing a little to the south along thecoast, brings us to the port of Maranhão, which is the capital of aprovince of Brazil known by the same name, situated a little over threehundred miles from Pará. The place is picturesquely nestled, as it were,in the very lap of the mountains, which come boldly down to the coast atthis point. It was founded nearly three hundred years ago, is regularlybuilt, and contains between thirty and forty thousand inhabitants.Nearly all of the houses, which are generally of two stories, areornamented with attractive balconies, and have handsome gardens attachedto them, where the luxurious verdure is with difficulty kept withinproper bounds. Vegetation runs riot in equatorial regions. It is the onepleasing outlet of nature, whose overcharged vitality, spurred on by theclimate, must find vent either in teeming vegetation or in ragingvolcanoes, tidal waves, and unwelcome earthquakes, though sometimes, tobe sure, we find them all combined in the tropics.

The harbor of Maranhão is excellent and sheltered, the depth of waterpermitting the entrance of ships drawing full twenty feet, an advantagewhich some of the ports to the southward would give millions of dollarsto possess. According to published statistics, the exports during 1890were as follows: thirty-six hundred tons of cotton, six hundred tons ofsugar, seven hundred tons of hides, a large amount of rice, and someother minor articles. The imports for the same period were estimated atsomething less than three million dollars in value. This is the entrepôtof several populous districts, besides that of which it is the capital.The province itself contains a number of navigable rivers, with somethrifty towns on their banks. The bay gives ample evidence of commercialactivity, containing at all times a number of foreign steamships, with agoodly show of coasting vessels. The place is slowly but steadilygrowing in its business relations, and in the number of its permanentpopulation.

It cannot make any pretension to architectural excellence, though theBishop's palace and the cathedral are handsome structures. There are twoor three other prominent edifices, quaint and Moorish, which were oncenunneries or monasteries; also a foundling institution, a specialnecessity in all Roman Catholic countries. We found here a publiclibrary, and a botanical garden. Not far inland there are some extensiverice plantations, the province in some portions being specially adaptedto producing this valuable staple. We were informed by those whoseopinion was worthy of respect, that educational advantages are ratherremarkable here, the Lyceum having in the past few years graduated someof the most prominent statesmen and professionals in Brazil. One thingis very certain, the authorities cannot multiply educational facilitiesany too rapidly in this country, nor give the subject any too muchattention, especially as regards the rising generation of both sexes. Sofar as we could learn by inquiry, or judge by careful observation, theignorance of the mass of the people is simply deplorable.

Maranhão is situated about fourteen hundred miles north of RioJaneiro, with which port it carries on an extensive coasting trade. Theexports, besides the staples already spoken of, are various, includingannotto, sarsaparilla, balsam copaiba, and other medicinal extracts,together with rum and crude india-rubber. The climate is torrid, thecity 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 israther an unhealthy locality, it is much less so than Pará, and is a farmore cleanly place than that city, its situation giving it the advantageof a system of natural drainage. The country near Maranhão abounds innative forests of exuberant richness, producing a valuable quality oftimber, and affording some of the finest cabinet woods known tocommerce, as well as a practically inexhaustible supply of variousdyewoods, a considerable business being done in the export of the latterarticle. It was observed that the assai-palm, from which the palm wineis made, was also a prominent feature here. The trunk is quite smooth,the fruit growing in heavy bunches like grapes, dark brown in color, andabout the size of cranberries, hanging in heavy clusters just below thebunch of long leaves which forms the top of the tree. The native drinkwhich is made from these palm grapes is a favorite beverage in northernBrazil, and when properly fermented it contains about the samepercentage of alcohol as English pale ale.

To the author, the town of Maranhão was quite unknown; even its placeupon the maps had never attracted his attention until after it was seenlying peacefully in an amphitheatre of tall hills, which come down closeto the rock-ribbed shore of the Atlantic Ocean. This acknowledgment isbetween ourselves, for such a confession would sound very ridiculous tothe good people of Maranhão.

After leaving its harbor, our next objective point was Pernambuco,which is situated about four days' sail from Pará by steamship, andabout three from Maranhão.

This well known port, with its one hundred and fifty thousandinhabitants, is reckoned as the third city of Brazil in point of sizeand commercial importance. It lacks elevation to produce a good effect,and recalls the low-lying city of Havana in general appearance, as oneapproaches it from the sea. The harbor is not what could be desired fora commercial city, having hardly sufficient depth of water for vesselsof heavy tonnage, and being also too narrow for a modern long steamshipto safely turn in. The American line of steamships come to a mooringinside the harbor, but the European lines, or at least the Pacific Mail,in which we made the home passage, anchor in the open roadstead, threequarters of a mile from the shore. The harbor is formed by a longnatural reef, which makes a breakwater between it and the open sea, aportion of the reef having been built up with solid masonry to render itmore effective. This remarkable coral formation, which is more or lessclearly defined, extends along the coast for a considerabledistance,—it is said for four hundred miles. Opposite Pernambucoit rises six feet above the water, that is, above high-water mark, andruns parallel to the front street of the city at the distance from it ofabout a third of a mile or less. A wide opening in the reef at thenorthern end of the town makes the entrance to the harbor. Off thenortheast coast of Australia, there is a very similar reef-formation,fully as long as this on the South American coast, but situated muchfurther from the shore.

It is a serious drawback that passengers by large ocean steamerscannot enter the harbor of Pernambuco except by lighters or open boats;all freight brought by these steamers must also be transhipped. Landinghere is often accomplished at considerable personal risk, and a thoroughducking with salt water is not at all uncommon in the attempt to reachthe shore. To pull a boat from the open roadstead into the harbor, orvice versa, requires six stout oarsmen and an experienced man at thehelm, so that landing from the Pacific Mail steamers is both a seriousand an expensive affair. If a very heavy sea is running, the thingcannot be done, and no one will attempt it. The powerful wind which sooften prevails on the coast occasionally creates quite a commotion eveninside the harbor, among the shipping moored there, causing the largestcables to part and vessels to drag their anchors. Of course a vessellying in the open roadstead, outside of the reef, has no protectionwhatever, and is in a critical situation if the wind blows towards theland. If it comes on to blow suddenly, she buoys and slips her anchor atonce; she dares not waste the time to hoist it, but gets away as quicklyas possible to where there is plenty of sea room and no lee shore tofear. Fortunately, though so fierce for the time being, and of acyclonic character, the storms upon the coast are generally of briefduration, and like the furious pamperos, which are so dreaded bymariners further south, they blow themselves out in a few hours.

The geographical situation of Pernambuco is such, in the track ofcommerce, that vessels bound north or south, from Europe or from NorthAmerica, naturally make it a port of call to obtain late advices andprovisions. The name has been singularly chosen, no one can say how orby whom, but it signifies "the mouth of hell," a cognomen which we donot think the place at all deserves. It is a narrow, crowded,picturesque old seaport.

The town is situated at the mouth of the Biberibe River, just fivehundred miles south of the equator, and is divided in rather a peculiarmanner into three distinct parts: Recife, on a narrow peninsula; BoaVista, 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, aboutwhose water front the commercial life of Pernambuco centres, but thestreets of Recife are very narrow and often confusingly crooked. BoaVista is beautified by pleasant domestic residences, delightful gardens,and attractive promenades, far beyond anything which a strangeranticipates meeting in this part of the world. Though the businessportion of the city is so low, the other sections are of better and morerecent construction.

The view of the town and harbor to be had from some portions ofOlinda is very fine and comprehensive, taking in a wide reach of landand ocean. When a brief storm is raging, spending its force against thereef, the view from this point is indeed grand. The sea, angered atmeeting a substantial impediment, seethes and foams in wild excitement,dashing fifty feet into the air, and, falling over the reef, lashes theinner waters of the harbor into waves which mount the landing piers, andset everything afloat in the broad plaza which lines the shore. The bigships rock and sway incessantly, straining at their anchors, or chafingdangerously at their moorings. Precautions are taken to avert damage,but man's strength and skill count for little when opposed by theenraged elements.

This plaza, or quay, is shaded by aged magnolias of great height, andis the resort of unemployed seamen, fruit dealers, and idlers of alldegrees. The house fronts in the various sections of the town arebrilliantly colored, yellow, blue, white, and pink, also sometimes beingcovered halfway up the first story with glittering tiles of varioushues. At nearly every turn one comes upon the moss-grown, crumblingfaçade of some old church, about the corners of which there is often agrossly filthy receptacle, the vile odor from which permeates thesurrounding atmosphere. This was found to be almost insupportable withthe thermometer standing at 90° Fahr. in the shade, forming so obvious ameans for propagating malarial fever and sickness generally as to beabsolutely exasperating. Notwithstanding all appearances, the Americanconsul assured us that Pernambuco is one of the healthiest cities on theeast coast of South America. The yellow fever, however, does not by anymeans forget to visit the place annually. Experience showed us that theresidents along the coast were accustomed to give their own cityprecedence in the matter of hygienic conditions, and to admit, withserious faces, that the other capitals, north and south, were sadlyafflicted by epidemics at nearly all seasons.

Pernambuco has several quite small but well-arranged public squares,decorated with fountains, trees, and flowers of many species. Two ofthese plazas have handsome pagodas, from which outdoor concerts areoften given by military bands. The city is a thriving and progressiveplace, has extensive gas works, an admirable system of water supply,tramways, good public schools, and one college or high school. We mustnot forget to add to this list a very flourishing foundlingasylum, where any number of poor little waifs are constantly beingreceived, and no questions asked. A revolving box or cradle is placed ina wall of the hospital, next to the street, in which any person candeposit an infant, ring the bell, and the cradle will revolve, leavingthe child on the inside of the establishment, where the little desertedobject will be duly cared for. Connected with the hospital are severaloutlying buildings, where children are placed at various stages ofgrowth. We were told that about forty per cent. of such children live togrow up to maturity, and leave the care of the government fairly wellfitted to take their place in the world, and to fight the battle of lifeso very inauspiciously begun. It has been strongly argued that such anestablishment offers a premium upon illegitimacy and immorality; but onething is to be considered, it prevents the terrible crime ofinfanticide, which is said to have prevailed here to an alarming extentbefore this hospital was founded.

There is a passably good system of drainage, which was certainly verymuch needed, and since its completion the general health of the place issaid to have considerably improved. This is not all that is required,however. There should be a decided reform in the habits of the people asregards cleanliness. At present they are positively revolting. Theinhabitants are the very reverse of neat in their domestic associations,and home arrangements for natural conveniences are inexcusablyobjectionable; such, indeed, as would in a North American city, or evensmall town, call for the prompt interference of the local board ofhealth. These remarks do not apply to isolated cases; the trouble isuniversal. Families living otherwise in comparative affluence utterlydisregard neatness and decency in the matter to which we allude.

The districts neighboring to Pernambuco form extensive plains, welladapted to the raising of sugar, coffee, and cotton, as well as allsorts of tropical fruits and vegetables. There are many flourishingplantations representing these several interests, more especially thatof sugar. The storehouses on the wharves and in the business sections ofthe city, the oxcarts passing through the streets, drawn each by asingle 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 amountof the article which is exported averages some twelve hundred thousandtons. Sugar is certainly king at Pernambuco. People not only drink, butthey talk sugar. It is the one great interest about which all otherbusiness revolves. The article is mostly of the lower grade, andrequires to be refined before it is suitable for the market. Therefining process is being generally adopted at the plantations. Americanmachinery is introduced for the purpose with entire success. The exportof the crude article will, it is believed, be much less every year forthe future, until it ceases altogether. It was a singular sight toobserve the naked negroes carrying canvas bags of crude sugar upon theirheads through the streets, each bag weighing a hundred pounds or more.The intense heat caused the canvas to exude quantities of syrup ormolasses, which covered their dark, glossy bodies with small streams offluid. They trotted along in single file, and at a quick pace, towardstheir destination, unheeding the sticky condition of their woolly headsand naked bodies.

Not far inland there are extensive meadows, where large herds ofhorned cattle are raised, together with a breed of half-wild horses, thebreaking and domesticating of which, as here practiced, is a most cruelprocess. A certain set of men devote themselves to this business; roughriders, we should call them, very rough. Good horses are to be had atextraordinarily low prices. In the back country there are some grand andextensive forests, which produce fine cabinet woods and superior dyewoods.

By consulting a map of the western hemisphere, it will be seen thatPernambuco is situated on the great eastern shoulder of South America,where it pushes farthest into the Atlantic Ocean, fifteen hundred milessouth of Pará, and about five hundred north of Bahia. On the long coralreef which separates the harbor from the open sea is a picturesquelighthouse, also a quaint old watch tower which dates from the time ofthe Dutch dominion here. It is proposed to build additional layers ofheavy granite blocks upon the reef, so as to raise it about six or eightfeet higher and make it of a uniform elevation along the entire cityfront, and thus afford almost complete protection for the inneranchorage. It will be only possible to make any real improvement of theharbor by adopting a thorough system of dredging and deepening. Therewas evidence of such a purpose being already in progress on our secondvisit, two large steam dredging machines being anchored at the southerlyend 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 handsomevillas which form the attractive suburbs of the city. Everywhere onesees tall cocoanut palms, clusters of feathery bamboos, widespreadmangoes, prolific bananas, guavas, and plantains growing among othergraceful tropical trees, rich in the green texture of their foliage, andthrice rich in their luscious and abundant fruits. Among the vineproducts we must not forget to mention 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 ironpipes, comes from a neighboring lake, and is a pure and wholesome drink,a most incomparable blessing in equatorial regions, which no person whohas not suffered for the want of it can duly appreciate.

The International Hotel is the favorite resort of strangers, and issituated a couple of miles from the harbor. It is surrounded bybeautiful trees and flowers, the golden oranges weighing down thebranches nearly to the ground by their size and abundance, while theyoung blossoms fill the air with their delicate perfume,—fruit andblossoms on the tree at the same time. The garden is thronged byhousehold pets, and contains a spacious aviary. The monkey tribe isfully represented; gaudy winged parrots dazzle the eye with impossiblecolors. One partakes here, in the open air, of the refreshing viandsamid the songs of birds, the occasional scream of the co*ckatoo, thecooing of turtle-doves, and the fragrance of a profusion of tropicalflowers. The native servants are well-trained, and there is a Frenchchef. We were told that this attractive place had once belonged to avery wealthy Brazilian, a planter, who had come to grief financially,and as the house was offered for sale, it had been purchased for onefifth of its original cost and adapted to hotel purposes. While enjoyingour fruit at dessert, a somewhat similar experience was recalled ashaving taken place at Christiania, in Norway, where visitors enjoy themeals in a sort of outdoor museum and garden, surrounded by curiouspreserved birds mingled with living ones, the latter so tame as toalight fearlessly upon the table and await any choice bit guests mayoffer them.

We shall not soon forget the very appetizing dinner of which wepartook, amid such attractive surroundings, in the gardens of theInternational Hotel at Pernambuco. One fruit which was served to us isknown by the name of the loquat. It is round, dark yellow, and about thesize 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 isdifficult for one to understand. It is only poetical license, for thereis not the first actual resemblance between the two cities. True, thereare several watercourses, and half a dozen bridges, intersecting thisBrazilian capital. One would be equally justified in calling the frailcatamarans which are used by the fishermen in these waters, gondolas.This singular craft, by the way, consists of four or five logs of thecork-palm tree, confined together by a series of strong lashings, nonails being used, thus securing a necessary degree of elasticity. Oneend of the logs is hewn down to a smaller size or width than the other,thus forming stem and stern, while a single thick plank serves as akeel. There are no bulwarks to this crazy craft,—for it can hardlybe called anything else,—the whole being freely washed by the sea;but yet, with a rude mast carrying a triangular sail, and with a coupleof oars, two or three fishermen venture far away from the shore; indeed,we encountered them out of sight of land. A couple of upright stakes aredriven into the logs, to hold on by when occasion requires. It is reallywonderful to see how weatherly such a frail affair can be, and howliterally safe in a rough seaway. The boatmen who navigate thesecatamarans (they are called here janguardas) manage to keep themarket of Pernambuco abundantly supplied with the strange, fantasticfish which so prevail along the Atlantic coast in equatorialregions.

We have seen a craft very similar to these catamarans in use off theCoromandel coast, between Madras and the mouth of the Hoogly River,which leads up to Calcutta. Here the natives manage them in a sea sorough that an ordinary ship's boat, if exposed, would surely be swamped.The Madras catamaran consists of three pieces of timber, mere logstwelve or fourteen feet long, securely bound together with ropes madefrom the fibre of the cocoanut palm. Nails are no more available herethan in the former crafts we have named. No nails could withstand thewrenching which this raft is subjected to. The middle log is a littlelonger than the two outside ones, and is given a slight upward turn atthe end which forms the prow. No sail is used, but two fishermengenerally go out with each of these rafts, propelling them withbroad-bladed paddles, used alternately on either side. Of course thenatives who navigate these crafts are naked, with the exception of abreech-cloth at the loins. They are very frequently thrown off by thesea, but regain their places with remarkable agility. They manage also,somehow, to secure their fishing gear, and generally to bring in aremunerative fare from their excursions. Strange as the catamaran is, itmust yet be described as breezy, watery, and safe—for amphibiouscreatures. There is one enemy these fishermen have to look out for,namely the shark, both on the coast of Madras and South America. It ismore common to say when one is lost that the sharks got him, than it isto say he was drowned.

The reef so often referred to, forming the breakwater oppositePernambuco, is about forty feet in width at the surface, and is themarvelous architecture of that tiny coral builder which works beneaththese southern seas. When it has reared a pyramid reaching from the farbottom of the ocean to the surface, its mission is performed and itdies. It lives and works only beneath the surface of the sea;atmospheric air is fatal to it. The pyramids of Egypt cannot comparewith these submerged structures for height, solidity, or magnitude. Oneis the product of a creature of such seeming unimportance as to requiremicroscopic aid to detect its existence; the other are monuments erectedby ancient kings commanding infinite resources; the former being theprocess of nature in carrying out her great and mysterious plan; thelatter, the ambitious work of men whose very identity is nowquestionable. If we were to enter into a calculation based upon knownscientific facts, as to how many thousands of years were required forthis minute animal to rear this massive structure, the result wouldastonish the average reader.

On approaching Pernambuco from the sea, the first object to attractthe eye is the long line of snow white breakers, caused by the incessantswell of the sea striking against the firmly planted reef with adeafening surge, breaking into foam and spray which are thrown fortyfeet and more into the air. As we drew near for the first time, theextended line of breakers was illumined by the early morning sun, makingfancy rainbows and misty pictures in the mingled air and water. We wereescorted by myriads of sea-birds, whose sharp cries came close upon theear, as they flew in and about the rigging. Behind the reef lay thecomparatively smooth waters of the harbor, dotted here and there by tinywhite 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-lyingcapital from view.

We have remained quite long enough at this city of the reef, and nowturn southward towards the more attractive port of Bahia.

In running down the coast, the Brazilian shore is so near as to bedistinctly visible, with its surf-fringed beach of golden sandsextending mile after mile, beyond which, far inland, rise ranges offorest-clad hills, and beyond these, sky-reaching alps. It is oftennecessary to give the land a wide berth, as at certain points dangeroussandbars make out from it far to seaward; but whenever near enough tothe coast to make out the character of the vegetation, it was of deepestgreen and exuberantly tropical. With the exception of one or two smalltowns, and an occasional fisherman's hamlet, the shore presented nosigns of habitation, being mostly a sandy waste adjoining the sea, whereheavy rollers spent their force upon the smooth, water-worn, yellowbeach.

CHAPTER VII.

Port of Bahia.—A Quaint OldCity.—Former Capital of Brazil.—WhalingInterests.—Beautiful Panorama.—Tramways.—No Color LineHere.—The Sedan Chair.—Feather Flowers.—Great OrangeMart.—Passion Flower Fruit.—Coffee, Sugar, andTobacco.—A Coffee Plantation.—Something aboutDiamonds.—Health of the City.—Curious Tropical StreetScenes.

Bahia,—pronounced Bah-ee´ah,—situated threehundred and fifty miles south of Pernambuco, is the capital of aprovince of the same name in Brazil, and contains nearly two hundredthousand inhabitants. It is admirably situated on elevated ground at theentrance of All Saints Bay,—Todos os Santos,—justwithin Cape San Antonio, eight hundred miles or thereabouts north of RioJaneiro. The entrance of the bay is seven miles broad. For its size,there are few harbors in the world which present a more attractivepicture as one first beholds it on entering from the open Atlantic. Theelevated site of the city, with its close array of neat, white three andfour story houses, breaks the sky-line in front of the anchorage, whilethe town forms a half moon in shape, extending for a couple of mileseach way, right and left. Near the water's edge, on the lower line ofthe city, are many substantial warehouses, official establishments, thecustom house, and the like. Between the lower and the upper town is along reach of green terraced embankment, intense in its bright verdure.Probably no other city on the globe, certainly not so far as ourexperience extends, is so peculiarly divided.

A sad episode marked our first experience here. We came to anchor inthe harbor, according to custom, at what is known as the Quarantine.About a cable's length from us lay a large European steamship, flyingthe yellow flag at the fore. She came into port from Rio Janeiro on theprevious evening; five of her passengers who had died of yellow fever onthe passage were buried at sea, while two more were down with it, andwere being taken to the lazaretto on shore, as we dropped our anchor.Probably they went there to die. This was naturally depressing, more so,perhaps, as we were bound direct for Rio Janeiro; but as we now camefrom a northern port with a clean bill of health, we were finallyreleased from quarantine and permitted to land. It is late in theseason—last of May—for this pest of the coast to prevail,but the year 1891 has been one of unusual fatality in the South Americanports, and none of them have been entirely exempt from the scourge, someshowing a fearful list of mortality among both citizens and strangers.We were conversant with many instances of a particularly trying and sadnature, if any distinction can be made where death intervenes with sucha rude hand. Victims who were in apparent good health in the morningwere not infrequently buried on the evening of the same day! But we willspare the reader harrowing details.

Americus Vespucius discovered Bahia in 1503, while sailing under thepatronage of Portugal, and as it was settled in 1511, it is the oldestcity in the country, being also the second in size, though not incommercial importance. The excellent harbor is so spacious as to form asmall inland sea, the far-reaching shores of which are beautified bymingled green foliage and pretty villas stretching along the bay, whilethe business portion gives evidence of a growing and important foreigntrade. This deduction is also corroborated by the presence of numerousEuropean steamships, and full-rigged sailing vessels devoted to thetransportation of merchandise. The buildings are generally of asubstantial appearance, whether designed as residences or for businesspurposes, but are mostly of an antique pattern, old and dingy. Thoughthe city is divided into the lower and the upper town, the latter two orthree hundred feet above the former, it is made easily accessible bymechanical means. A large elevator, run by hydraulic power, is employedfor the purpose, which was built by an energetic Yankee, and has been insuccessful operation several years, taking the citizens from the lowerto the upper town, as we pass from basem*nt to attic in our tall NorthAmerican buildings. Between the two portions of Bahia there are streetsfor the transportation of merchandise, which wind zigzag fashion alongthe ravine to avoid the abruptness of the ascent. Besides these means,there are narrow stone steps leading upwards to the first level, amongthe tropical verdure, the deep green branches and leaves nodding to onefrom out of narrow lanes and quiet nooks. There is still another way ofreaching the upper town, namely, a cable road, of very steep grade, onecar ascending while another descends, thus forming a sort ofcounterbalance. By all these facilities united, the population managevery comfortably to overcome the topographical difficulties of thesituation.

Though there are few buildings of any special note in Bahia, thegeneral architecture being quaint and nondescript, still the combinedview of the city, as we have endeavored to show, is of no inconsiderablebeauty. We approached it from the north, doubling Light House Point inthe early morning, just as the rising sun lighted up the bay. Seen fromthe harbor, the large dome of the cathedral overlooks the whole townvery much like the gilded dome which forms so conspicuous an object onapproaching the city of Boston. The dark, low-lying, grim-looking fort,which presides over the quarantine anchorage, is built upon a naturalledge of rock, half a mile from the shore of the town, and looks like ahuge cheese-box.

In the upper portion of Bahia the streets are narrow, and the housesso tall as to nearly exclude the sun when it is not in the zenith. Theyare built of a native stone, and differ from the majority of SouthAmerican dwellings, which are rarely over two stories in height, andgenerally of one only. We have heard it argued that it is advantageousto build tropical cities with narrow streets, so as to exclude the heatof the sun's rays and thus keep the houses cooler. This is not logical.Wide avenues and broad streets give ventilation which cannot be obtainedin any other way in populous centres. Narrow lanes invite epidemics,fevers, and malarial diseases; broad thoroughfares give less opportunityfor their lodgment. A beehive of human beings, crowded together in anarrow space, exhausts the life-giving principle of the surroundingatmosphere, but this is impossible where plenty of room is given for thecirculation of fresh air.

These tall houses of Bahia have overhanging ornamental balconies,which towards evening are filled with the female portion of thefamilies, laughing, chatting, singing, and smoking, for the ladies ofthese latitudes smoke in their domestic circles. Narrow as the streetsof Bahia are, room is found for a well patronized tramway to run throughthem. No one thinks of walking, if it be for only a couple of hundredrods, on the line of the street cars. All of the civilized world seemsto have grown lazy since the introduction of this modern facility forcheap transportation.

Bahia was the capital of Brazil until 1763, during which year theheadquarters of the government were removed to Rio Janeiro.

This is a sort of New Bedford, so to speak, having been for more thana century extensively engaged in the whaling business, an occupationwhich is still pursued to a limited extent. Whales frequent the bay ofBahia, where they are sometimes captured by small boats from the shore.It is supposed that the favorite food of this big game is found in thesewaters. There was a time when the close pursuit by fishing fleets fittedout in nearly all parts of the world rendered the whales wary andscarce. The catching and killing of so many seemed to have thinned outtheir number in most of the seas of the globe. Then came the greatdiscovery of rock oil, which rapidly superseded the whale oil ofcommerce in general use. Thereupon the pursuit of the gigantic animalceased to be of any great moment, while there was oil enoughspontaneously pouring out of the wells of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere,to fully satisfy the demand of the world at large. Being no longerhunted, the whales gradually became tame and increased in numbers, sothat to-day there are probably as many in the usual haunts of theseleviathans in either hemisphere as there ever were. The briefest seavoyage can hardly be made without sighting one or more of them, andsometimes in large schools.

There is a portion of the elevated section of Bahia which is calledVictoria, a really beautiful locality, having delightful gardens,attractive walks, and myriads of noble shade trees. From here thevisitor overlooks the bay, with its islands and curving shore deckedwith graceful palms, bamboos, and mango groves; upon the water arenumerous tiny boats, while white winged sailing ships and dark, begrimedsteamers unite in forming a picture of active life and maritime beauty.In the distance lies the ever green island of Itaparica, named after thefirst governor's Indian bride, while still farther away is seen rangeafter range of tall, purple hills, multiplied until lost in thedistance.

A few grim looking convents and monasteries, which have graduallycome into the possession of the government, are now used as freeschools, libraries, and hospitals. There is a medical college here whichhas a national reputation for general excellence, and many students comefrom Rio Janeiro, eight hundred miles away, to avail themselves of itsadvantages, receiving a diploma after attending upon its three years'course of studies. From subsequent inquiry, however, not only here butin Rio and elsewhere, we are satisfied that the science of medicine andsurgery stands at a very low ebb throughout this great southland.Foreign doctors are looked upon with great distrust and jealousy;indeed, it is very difficult for them to obtain a suitable license topractice in Brazil. This does not apply to dentistry, of whichprofession there are many American experts in the country, who haverealized decided pecuniary and professional success. There were six oreight on board the Vigilancia, who had been on a visit to their NorthAmerican homes during the summer season, at which time the fever is mostto be dreaded here.

The city contains over sixty churches, some of which are fineedifices, built of stone brought from Europe. This could easily be donewithout much extra expense, as the vessels visiting the port in thoseearly days required ballast with which to cross the ocean. They broughtno other cargo of any account, but were sure at certain seasons of theyear to obtain a suitable return freight, which paid a good profit onthe round voyage. Several of these churches are in a very dilapidatedcondition, and probably will not be repaired. The cathedral is one ofthe largest structures of the sort in Brazil, and is thought by many tobe one of the finest. The cathedral at Rio, however, is a much moreelaborate structure, and far more costly. It takes enormous sums, wrungfrom the poorest class of people, to maintain these gorgeous temples andsupport the horde of fat, licentious, useless priests attached to them,while the mass of humanity find life a daily struggle with abject wantand poverty. Does any thoughtful person believe for one moment that suchhollow service can be grateful to a just and merciful Supreme Being?

Bahia was a flourishing port before Rio Janeiro was knowncommercially, and was the first place of settlement by English traderson this coast. The present population is of a very mixed character,composed of nearly all nationalities, white and black, European andnatives. There is no prejudice evinced as regards color. Mulatto ornegro may once have been a slave, but he is a freeman now, both sociallyand 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 politicaloffices here, with credit to themselves and satisfaction to the public.The actual reform from being a degraded land of slavery to one of humanfreedom is much more radical and thorough in Brazil than it is in ourown Southern States, where the pretended equality of the colored race issimply a burlesque upon constitutional liberty.

The occasional use of that quaint mode of conveyance, the sedanchair, was observable, taking one back to the days of Queen Anne. Only afew years ago it was the one mode of transportation from the lower tothe upper part of the town; but modern facilities, already referred to,have thrown the sedan chair nearly out of use. A few antiquerepresentatives of this style of vehicle, some quite expensive andelaborately ornamented, are still seen obstructing the entrances to thehouses. The local name they bear is cadeira. When these chairsare used, they are borne upon the shoulders of two or four stalwartblacks, and are hung upon long poles, like a palanquin, after thefashion so often seen in old pictures and ancient tapestry.

We have spoken of the narrowness of the streets through which thetramways pass. In many places, pedestrians are compelled to step intothe doorways of dwellings to permit the cars to pass them. This is notonly the case at Bahia, but also in half the busy portion of SouthAmerican cities. These mule propelled cars are now adopted all over thiscountry and Mexico; even fourth class cities have tramways, and manytowns which have not yet risen to the dignity of having a cityorganization are thus supplied with transportation. The Bahia tramway,on its route to the suburbs, passes through fertile districts of greatrural beauty, among groves of tropical fruits, orange orchards, tallovershadowing mangoes, and cultivated flowers. There is an attempt at apublic garden, though it is an idea only half carried out; but there isa terrace in connection here called "The Bluff," from whence one gets amagnificent view, more especially of the near and the distant sea. Thesedelightful and comprehensive natural pictures are photographed upon thememory, forming a charming cabinet of scenic views appertaining to eachspecial locality, choice, original, and never to be effaced.

We must not omit to mention a specialty of this city, an articleproduced in one or two of the charitable institutions, as well as inmany humble family circles, namely, artificial flowers made from thechoicest feathers of the most brilliant colored birds. None of thesearticles are poor, while some of them are exquisite in design andexecution, produced entirely from the plumage of native birds. Aconsiderable aggregate sum of money is realized by a certain portion ofthe community, in the regular manufacture of these delicate ornaments.Girls begin to learn the art at a very early age, and in a few yearsarrive at a marvelous degree of perfection, producing realistic pictureswhich rival the brush and pencil of a more pretentious department ofart. Nearly all visitors carry away with them dainty examples of thisexquisite and artistic work, which has a reputation beyond the seas.Thousands of beautiful birds are annually sacrificed to furnish thenecessary material. Thus the delicate family of the humming-bird, whosevariety is infinite in Brazil, has been almost exterminated in someparts of the country. There is one other specialty here, namely, themanufacture of lace, which gives constant employment to many women ofBahia, their product being much esteemed all over South America for thebeauty of the designs and the perfection of the manufacture.

The special fruit of this province, as already intimated, is oranges,and it is safe to say that none produced elsewhere can excel them. Theyare not picked until they are thoroughly ripe, and are therefore toodelicate, in their prime condition, to sustain transportation to anyconsiderable distance. Those sold in our northern cities are picked in agreen condition and ripened off the trees, a process which does notinjure some fruits, but which detracts very materially from the orangeand the pineapple. The oranges of Bahia average from five to six inchesin diameter, have a rather thin skin, are full of juice, and contain nopips; in short, they are perfectly delicious, being delicately sweet,with a slight subacid flavor. The first enjoyment of this special fruitin Bahia is a gastronomic revelation. The maracajus is also a favoritefruit here, but hardly to be named beside the orange. It is the productof the vine which bears the passion flower, but this we could notrelish. It is a common fruit in Australia and New Zealand, where theauthor found it equally unpalatable, yet people who have once acquiredthe taste become very fond of it. The vine with its flower is commonenough in the United States, but we have never seen it in afruit-bearing condition in our country.

The province of Bahia has an area of two hundred thousand squaremiles, and is represented as containing some of the most fertile land inBrazil, capable of producing immense crops of several important staples.It is especially fertile near the coast, where there are some large andthriving tobacco, sugar, and coffee plantations. The first mentionedarticle, owing to some favorable peculiarity of the soil in thisvicinity, is held to be nearly equal to the average Cuban product, andit is being more and more extensively cultivated each year. Bahia cigarsare not only very cheap, but they are remarkably fine in flavor. It wasobserved that old travelers on this coast made haste to lay in a goodlysupply 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 andinformation. The coffee plant is an evergreen, and thus the foliage isalways fresh in appearance, yielding two harvests annually. Boa Vista,the plantation referred to, covers about one hundred acres, much ofwhich is also devoted to the raising of fodder, fruit, corn, and beans,with some special vegetables, forming the principal sustenance of thepeople and animals employed upon the estate. At first, in laying outsuch a plantation, the coffee sprouts are started in a nursery, and whenthey have had a year's growth are transplanted to the open field, wherethey are placed with strict uniformity in long rows at equal distancesapart. After the second year these young plants begin to bear, andcontinue to do so for twenty-five or thirty years, at which period boththe trees and the soil become in a measure exhausted, and a new tract ofland is again selected for a plantation. By proper management the newplantation can be made to begin bearing at the same time that the oldone ceases to be sufficiently productive and remunerative to cultivatefor the same purpose. The coffee-tree is thought to be in its prime atfrom five to ten years of age. Fruit trees, such as bananas, oranges,mandioca, guavas, and so on, are planted among the coffee-trees toafford them a partial shelter, which, to a certain degree, is requisiteto their best success, especially when they are young and throwing outthin roots. The coffee bushes are kept trimmed down to about the heightof one's head, which facilitates the harvesting of the crop, and alsothrows the sap into the formation and growth of berries. Thecoffee-tree, when permitted to grow to its natural height, reachesbetween twenty and thirty feet, and, with its deep green foliage, is ahandsome 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, whendetached from the pod and properly dried, form the familiar article ofsuch universal domestic use. A coffee plantation well managed, inBrazil, is an almost certain source of ample 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 needlessto enumerate, as regards entering into the business, but the growth andripening of a coffee crop very seldom fail.

As has been intimated, this port is famous for the production oforanges and tobacco; so Rio is famous for coffee, Pernambuco for sugar,and Pará for crude india-rubber.

We must not forget to mention one other, and by no meansinsignificant product of Brazil which is exported from Bahia, namely,diamonds of the very first quality, which for purity of color far exceedthose of Africa and elsewhere. It appears that a syndicate in Londoncontrol the world's supply of this peculiar gem from all the mines onthe globe, permitting only a certain quantity of diamonds to go on tothe market annually, and thus keeping up the selling price and themarket value. No one is permitted to know the real product of the minesbut the managers of this syndicate. The quantity of the sparkling gemswhich are held back by the dealers in London, Paris, and Vienna isreally enormous; were they to be placed in the retail dealers' hands asfast as they are produced from the various sources of supply, they wouldbe erelong as cheap and plenty as moonstones. This sounds like anextravagant assertion, but still there is far more truth in it than isgenerally realized. One of the public journals of London lately spoke ofa proposed corporation, to be known as the "Diamond Trust," which iscertainly a significant evidence that the market requires to becarefully controlled as to the quantity which is annually put upon it.In old times a diamond was simply valued as a diamond; its cutting andpolishing were of the simplest character. A series of irregular planesurfaces were thought to sufficiently bring out its reflectivequalities, but the stone is now treated with far more care andintelligence. A large portion of the value of a diamond has come toconsist in the artistic, and we may say scientific, manner in which itis cut. By this means its latent qualities of reflection of light arebrought to perfection, developing its real brilliancy. Accomplishedworkmen realize fabulous wages in this employment. A stone ofcomparatively little value, by being cut in the best manner, can be madeto outshine a much finer stone which is cut after the old style.Amsterdam used to control the business of diamond cutting, but it is nowas well done in Boston and New York as in any part of the world.

The largest diamond yet discovered came from Brazil, and is known asthe Braganza. The first European expert in precious stones has valuedthis extraordinary gem, which is still in the rough, at three hundredmillion sterling! Its actual weight is something over one pound troy. Inthe light of such a statement, we pause to ask ourselves, What is adiamond? Simply carbon crystallized, that is, in its greatest purity,and carbon is the combustible principle of charcoal. The author wastold, both here and in Rio Janeiro, that there is a considerable andprofitable mining industry carried on in this country, of which thegeneral public hear nothing. The results are only known to prominent andinterested Brazilians, the whole matter being kept as secret as possiblefor commercial reasons. No one reads anything about the products of thediamond 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 admirablysituated. Yellow fever and other epidemics prevail more or less everyyear. The lower part of the town, on the water front, is so shamefullyfilthy as to induce fever. Upon first landing, the stranger findshimself almost nauseated by the vile smells which greet him. Thissection of the town is also very hot, the cliff, or upper town, shuttingoff almost entirely the circulation of air. It is here that sailors,particularly, indulge in all sorts of excesses, especially in drinkingthe vile, raw liquor sold by negresses, besides eating unripe andoverripe fruit, thus inviting disease. One favorite drink produced here,very cheap and very potent, is a poisonous but seductive white rum.

The trade and people in this part of the town form a strangeconglomerate,—monkeys, parrots, caged birds, tame jaguars, mongrelpuppies, pineapples, oranges, mangoes, and bananas, these being flankedby vegetables and flowers. The throng is made up of half-naked boatmen,indolent natives from the country, with negresses, both as venders andpurchasers. As we look at the scene, in addition to what we havedepicted there is a jovial group of sailors from a man-of-war in theharbor enjoying their shore leave, while not far away a small party ofyachtsmen from an English craft are amusing themselves with pettybargains, close followed by half a dozen Americans, who came hither inthe last mail steamer. A polyglot scene of mixed tongues and gaycolors.

In passing into and out of the harbor of Bahia, one can count a dozenforts and batteries, all constructed after the old style, and armed inthe most ineffective manner. These would count as nothing in a contestwith modern ships of war having plated hulls and arms of precision. Landfortifications, designed to protect commercial ports from foreignenemies, have not kept pace with the progress in naval armament.

Bahia is connected by submarine telegraph with Pernambuco, Pará, andRio Janeiro, and through them with all parts of the civilized world.

CHAPTER VIII.

Cape Frio.—Rio Janeiro.—A SplendidHarbor.—Various Mountains.—Botafogo Bay.—TheHunchback.—Farewell to the Vigilancia.—Tijuca.—ItalianEmigrants.—City Institutions.—PublicAmusem*nts.—Street Musicians.—Churches.—NarrowThoroughfares.—Merchants' Clerks.—Railroads inBrazil.—Natural Advantages of the City.—The PublicPlazas.—Exports.

After a three days' voyage down the coast, between Bahiaand Rio Janeiro, the tall lighthouse of Cape Frio—"CoolCape"—was sighted. This promontory is a large oval mass ofgranite, sixteen hundred feet in height, quite isolated from otherhighlands, protruding boldly into the Atlantic Ocean. It forms thesoutheastern extremity of the coast of Brazil, and in clear weather canbe seen, it is said, forty miles or more away. Here the long swell ofthe open sea is unobstructed and finds full sway, asserting its giantpower at all seasons of the year. Experienced travelers who rarelysuffer from seasickness are apt to succumb to this trying illness offCape Frio. It is situated in latitude 22° 59' south, longitude 41° 57'west, which is particularly specified because the line of no magneticvariation touches on this cape,—that line which Columbus was soamazed at discovering one hundred leagues west of Flores, in the Azores,nearly four hundred years ago. We had been running almost due south forthe last eight hundred miles, but in doubling Cape Frio, and making forRio harbor, the ship was headed to the westward, while the mountains onthe coast assumed the most grotesque and singular shapes, the rangeextending from west to east until it ends at Cape Frio. The continent ofSouth America here forms a sharp angle, but we were too full ofexpectancy as to the king of harbors towards which we were heading, tospeculate much about Cape Frio and its ocean-swept surroundings.

Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, is also the largest, if not themost important city in South America, situated about twelve hundredmiles north of Montevideo and Buenos Ayres, just within the borders ofthe southern torrid zone. The distance of Rio from New York direct isfive thousand miles, but most voyagers, on the way through the WestIndies, stop at three or four of these islands, and also at some of thenorthern ports of the continent of South America, the same as in our owncase, so that about five hundred miles may be fairly added to thedistance we have just named. Though the vessel was a month in making thevoyage to this port, had we sailed direct it might have been done in twothirds of the time.

After doubling the cape and sailing some sixty or eighty miles, westeered boldly towards the mouth of the harbor of Rio. For a few momentsthe ship's prow pointed towards Raza Island, on which stands thelighthouse, but a slight turn of the wheel soon changed its relativeposition, and we entered the passage leading into the bay. After passingthe "Sugar Loaf," a rock twelve hundred feet in height, the city lay offour port bow. All is so well defined, the water is so deep and free fromobstructions 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 wellsuppose, to eyes weary of the monotony of the sea, the panorama whichopened before us was one of intense interest. Everything seemed maturedand olden. There was no sign of newness; indeed, we recalled the factthat Rio was an established commercial port half a century before NewYork had a local habitation or a name. The town lies on the west side ofthe port, between a mountain range and the bay, running back less thantwo miles in depth, but extending along the shore for a distance of someeight miles, fronting one of the finest and most spacious harbors in theworld, famous for its manifold scenic beauties, which, from the momentof passing within the narrow entrance, are ever changing and everlovely. The most prominent features are the verdure-clad hills ofGloria, Theresa, and Castello, behind which extend ranges of steep,everlasting mountains, one line beyond another, until lost among theclouds. Few natural spectacles can equal the grand contour of thisfamous bay. People who have visited it always speak in superlativelanguage of Rio harbor, but we hardly think it could be overpraised. Itis the grand entrance to a tropical paradise, so far as nature isconcerned, amid clustering mountains, abrupt headlands, inviting inlets,and beautiful islands, covered with palms, tree-ferns, bananas, acacias,and other delights of tropical vegetation, which, when seen depicted inbooks, impress one as an exaggeration, but seen here thrill us withvivid reality. It is only in the torrid zone that one sees these lavishdevelopments of verdure, these labyrinths of charming arboreouseffect.

Though so well known and so often written about, the harbor of Rio isless famous than beautiful. The bay is said to contain about one hundredislands, its area extending inland some seventeen or eighteen miles. Thelargest of these is Governor's Island, nearly fronting the city, beingsix miles long. Some idea of the extent of the bay may be had from thefact that there are fifty square miles of good anchorage for shipswithin its compass. Into the bay flows the water of two inconsiderablerivers, the Macacu and the Iguaçu, the first named coming in at thenortheast and the latter at the northwest corner of the harbor.

The Organ Mountains,—Serra dos Orgãos,—capped with soft,fleecy clouds, formed the lofty background of the picture towards thenorth, as we entered upon the scene, the immediate surroundings beingdominated by the sky-reaching Sugar Loaf Rock,—Pãod'Assucar,—which is also the navigator's guiding mark while yetfar away at sea. This bold, irregular rock of red sandstone risesabruptly from the water, like a giant standing waist-high in the sea,and forms the western boundary of the entrance to the harbor, oppositeto which, crowning a small but bold promontory, is the fort of SantaCruz, the two highlands forming an appropriate portal to the grandeurwhich is to greet one within. The distance between these bounds is abouta mile, inside of which the water widens at once to lake-likeproportions. Clouds of frigate birds, gulls, and gannets fly gracefullyabout each incoming ship, as if to welcome them to the harbor whereanchorage might be had for the combined shipping of the whole world. Wehave lately seen the harbor of Rio compared to that of Queenstown, onthe Irish coast, twenty times magnified; but the infinite superiority ofthe former in every respect makes the allusion quite pointless.

The Organ Mountains, to which we have referred, and which form soconspicuous a portion of the scene in and about Rio, are so calledbecause of their fancied resemblance in shape to the pipes of an organ;but though blessed with the usual share of imagination, we were quiteunable to trace any such resemblance. However, one must not behypercritical. The gigantic recumbent form of a human being, so oftenspoken of as discernible along this mountain range, is no poeticalfancy, but is certainly clear enough to any eye, recalling the likenessto a crouching lion outlined by the promontory of Gibraltar as one firstsees the rock, either on entering the strait or coming from Malta.

One of the most beautiful indentures of the shore, earliest to catchthe eye after passing into the harbor of Rio from the sea, is called theBay of Botafogo. The word means "thrown into the fire," and alludes tothe inhuman autos-da-fé which occurred here when the natives, onrefusing to subscribe to the Roman Catholic faith, were committed by thepriests to the flames! This is the way in which the Romish creed wasintroduced into Mexico and South America, and the means by which it wassustained.

The principal charm of this lovely bay within abay—Botafogo—is its flowers and exposition of soaring royalpalms. The attractiveness of the handsome residences is quite secondaryto that of nature, here revealed with a lavish profusion. This part ofRio is overshadowed by the tall peak of the Corcovado, "the Hunchback,"one of the mass of hills which occupy a large area west of the city, andthe nearest mountain to it. From its never-failing springs comes a largeshare of the water supply of the capital. The aqueduct is some ten mileslong, crossing a valley at one point seven hundred feet in width, at aheight of ninety feet, upon double arches. Another large aqueduct is incontemplation, besides which some other sources are now in actualoperation, as Rio has long since outgrown the capacity of the originalsupply derived from the Corcovado. The drainage of the town suffersseriously for want of sufficient water wherewith to flush the conduits,which at this writing, with the deadly fever claiming victims on allhands, are permitted to remain in a stagnant condition! And yet thereare hundreds of hills round about, within long cannon range, which wouldreadily yield the required element in almost limitless quantity.

We left the Vigilancia, and our good friend Captain Baker, withregret. The noble ship had borne us in safety thousands of miles duringthe 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 thechanging latitudes, and particularly the grandeur of the radiant heavensin equatorial regions. A sense of all-absorbing curiosity prevailed aswe landed at the stone steps, overlooked by the yellow ochre walls ofthe arsenal, in the picturesque, though pestilential city. The nauseousodors which greet one as he steps on shore are very discordant elementsin connection with the intense interest created by the novel sights thatengage the eye of a stranger.

With a population, including the immediate suburbs, of over half amillion,—estimated at six hundred and fifty thousand,—Riohas most of the belongings of a North American city of the first class,though we cannot refrain from mentioning one remarkable exception,namely, the entire absence of good hotels. There is not a really goodand comfortable public house in all Brazil. Those which do exist in Riocharge exorbitantly for the most indifferent service, and strangers areoften puzzled to find a sleeping-room for a single night on firstarriving here. Tijuca, situated in the hills a few miles from the city,is perhaps the most desirable place of temporary sojourn for the newlyarrived traveler, who will find at least one large and comfortablepublic house there, favorably known to travelers as Whyte's Hotel. It issome little distance from the city, but is easily reached by tramway,which takes one to the foot of the hills of the Tijuca range, whosetallest peak is thirty-four hundred feet above tide-water. This placeabounds in attractive villas, tropical vegetation, and beautifulflowers, both wild and cultivated. From here also one gets a mostcharming view of the distant city, the famous bay, and the broadAtlantic; indeed, the view alone will repay one for making this briefexcursion. The loftiest village in these hills is called Boa Vista.There are mountains, however, on either side, which are five or sixhundred feet higher than the village containing the hotel. Americanenterprise is engaged at this writing in constructing a narrow gaugeelectric tramway to the summit of Tijuca. The driving road from the baseto the top is an admirable piece of engineering, and is kept in the verybest condition possible.

The objectionable character of the Italian emigrants, who come hitheras well as to our own States, was demonstrated by a party of themrobbing and nearly murdering a resident of Tijuca who happened to be ashort distance from his own house, the evening previous to the day whichwe spent at this resort. These Italians are mostly employed as workmenupon the railroad, though some are gardeners on the neighboring 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 ofthe community, giving the police force a great deal of trouble.

Rio has many large and commodious public buildings and some elegantprivate residences, the latter generally of a half Moorish type ofarchitecture. Some of the edifices date back a couple of centuries. Theearly Portuguese built of stone and cement, hence the somewhatremarkable durability of these houses. The large edifice devoted to thedepartment of agriculture and public works is one of the most noticeablein the city. The Bank of Brazil occupies a building which is classic inits fine architecture, being elaborately constructed of hammeredgranite. There is no more superb example of masonry in the country. TheNational Mint, on the Square of the Republic, is also a fine granitebuilding; so is that devoted to the Bourse, where enormous values changehands daily. Educational institutions are numerous, well organized, andgenerally availed of by the rising generation. The National College isof notable influence in the dissemination of general intelligence, andthe same may be said of the Polytechnic College, an excellent andpractical institution. It should be observed that any well organizededucational establishment is called a college in this country.

The public library of Rio contains some two hundred thousand volumes,besides many valuable Spanish and Portuguese documents in manuscript. Itis liberally conducted; black and white people alike, as well as allrespectable strangers, have free access and liberal accommodationswithin the walls. This institution is an honor to Brazil.

Rio has a new and well organized navy yard, a large arsenal, cottonmills, and several extensive manufacturing establishments. Among thelatter is the largest flour mill we have ever seen. This is an Englishenterprise; but so far as we could learn, it had been found impossibleto compete profitably with the American flour, as now landed at Rio. Afoundling 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 beingmade of those who deposit them. These little ones at the outset becomechildren of the state, and are registered and numbered as such.Oftentimes the mother pins to the little deserted one's clothes the nameshe desires should be given to it, and the wish is usually regarded bythe officials of the institution. The authorities put each child out tonurse for a year, but receive it back again at the expiration of thattime, and at a proper period send it to school, and endeavor to rear itto 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 isalso contingent upon its good health and physical condition. Thus thedeserted one is likely to have good attention, if not for humanity'ssake, then from mercenary motives. This plan is copied from that whichis pursued by the great foundling hospitals of St. Petersburg andMoscow, which are certainly the best organized and largest institutionsof the sort in the world. Where so large a percentage of the childrenborn are illegitimate, such a hospital becomes a real necessity. Therehas been no year since this establishment was opened, in 1738, as wewere told, in which less than four hundred infants were received.Sometimes parents, whose worldly conditions have greatly improved, comeforward after the lapse of years and claim their children. This right ontheir part is duly respected by their properly proving the relationshipbeyond all possible doubt, and paying a sum of money equal to that whichhas been actually expended by the state in the child's behalf.

In the line of public amusem*nts there is a large and well-appointedopera house besides eight other fairly good theatres, together with anexcellent museum. The performances at the theatres are given in French,Spanish, and Portuguese. Italian opera is presented three times a weekduring the season. This year the performances were summarily stopped bythe principal tenor dying of yellow fever. The theatre bearing the nameof the late emperor is a sort of mammoth cave in size, and is capable ofseating six thousand people, not one half of whom can hear what is saidor sung upon the stage by the performers. Street bands of Germanmusicians perform here as they do in Boston and New York; the mass ofthe people, being music loving, patronize these itinerants liberally.One band posted themselves daily before the popular Globe Restaurant, atthe hour of the midday meal (breakfast), and performed admirably,reaping a generous response from the habitués. Most of the patrons ofthis excellent establishment were observed to be American, English, andFrench merchants, who attended to business in Rio during the day, butwho went home to the elevated environs to dine and to sleep. "I havebeen 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 Rioovernight for any amount of money, at this season of the year." This wasearly in June. He added: "The fever should have disappeared before thistime, which is our winter, but it seems to linger later and later eachsucceeding year." This was a conclusion which we heard expressed byother observant individuals, but all joined in ascribing its persistencyin no small degree to the imperfect drainage, and the vile personalhabits of the mass of the common people, who make no effort to becleanly, or to regard the decencies of life in this respect.

As to churches, Rio has between sixty and seventy, none of which arevery remarkable, all being dim, dirty, and offensive to the olfactories.The cause of the foul air being so noticeable in all of these Romishchurches is the fact that no provision whatever is made for properventilation, and this, too, in places of all others where it is mostimperatively necessary. The offense is created by exhalations from thebodies of the least cleanly class of the population. It is such whom*ostly fill these churches all over the continent of Europe, Mexico,South America, and the United States. Precisely the same disgusting odorgreets the senses of the visitor to these edifices, be it in onehemisphere or another, but especially in Italy and Spain.

The cathedral of Rio is a large, showy edifice, surrounded by narrowstreets, and thus hidden by other buildings, so that no general andsatisfactory outside effect can be had. The front and sides are of solidgranite, and the whole is known to have cost a mint of money, yet thesafety of the foundation is more than questionable. Like the grandchurch of St. Isaacs, in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg, greatexpense will doubtless have to be incurred to renew and strengthen it inthis respect. It is believed that the site upon which Rio stands wasonce under the sea, and, geologically speaking, at no very remoteperiod, which accounts for considerable trouble being experienced inobtaining secure and solid foundations for any heavy superstructure. Atthis writing, the cathedral is undergoing extensive repairs, inside andout, but in spite of the noise of workmen, the disagreeable lime dust,and the interference of a network of interior staging, it is still verystriking in its architectural effect.

In the old part of the town, two prominent cupolas dominate thesurroundings. These belong respectively to the churches of Candelariaand San Luigi. The most popular church in Rio is undoubtedly that whichcrowns the Gloria Hill, called the Igreja da Gloria do Onterio, whichoverlooks the bay. Its commanding situation is very remarkable. In shapeit is octagonal, and seems to be very solidly built. In front of thechurch there is a broad terrace, from whence a fine view may be enjoyed.On a moonlight night the picture presented from the Gloria Hill issomething worth going miles on foot to behold. This church was thefavorite 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 inthe hills of the Organ Mountains at the emperor's favoriteresort,—Petropolis.

The shops of Rio, notwithstanding they are generally small andsituated upon streets so narrow that they would be called only lanes inNorth America,—close, confined, half-strangledthoroughfares,—will compare favorably in many respects with thoseof continental Europe. The larger number of the merchants here areFrench, together with a considerable sprinkling of German Jews. Indeed,can any one tell us where we shall not find this peculiar racerepresented in the trade centres of the wide world? In many of thefancy-goods stores the famous Brazilian feather flowers are exhibitedfor sale, but the best place to purchase these is at Bahia, where theyare a specialty, and where their manufacture is said to have originated.The narrow streets, traversed by tramways, are at times almostimpassable for pedestrians, and are often blocked by heavy mule teamsfor fifteen minutes at a time. By and by some lazy policeman makes hisappearance and quietly begins to unravel the snarl, which he at lengthsucceeds in doing, and the ordinary traffic of the thoroughfare is oncemore resumed. An unsightly gutter runs through the middle of some ofthese thoroughfares, which adds to the annoyances incident to ordinarytravel. All are regularly laid out, chess-board fashion, very illsmelling, and harbor an infinite number of beggars and mangy dogs.

It is customary for local merchants who employ Europeanclerks—and there are many English, French, and Brazilians in Riowho do so,—to give them a fixed salary, quite moderate in amount,and to furnish them with lodgings also. The latter are of a very rudeand undesirable character, in the business establishment itself, eitherover the store, or in the back part of it. The bedding which isfurnished is of a makeshift character, rarely changed, and neverproperly aired. Exceedingly uncleanly domestic arrangements, or theentire absence of them, are also a serious matter in this connection,from a sanitary point of view. The clerks get their food at someneighboring restaurant, and contract irregular habits, all of which isboth mentally and physically demoralizing. It is among this class offoreigners that the yellow fever finds the most ready victims. To sleepin these crowded business centres, in ill-ventilated apartments, withfar from cleanly surroundings, is simply to provoke fatal illness, andduring an epidemic of fever these places furnish fuel for the flames.Neatness and cleanliness among domestic associations in this city areentirely lost sight of and are totally disregarded by men and women.

The Rua Direita is the State Street or Wall Street of Rio; a newname, which escapes us at this moment, has been given to it, but the oldone is still the favorite and in common use. Here brokers, bankers, andcommission merchants meet and bargain, and fiercely speculate in coffee.The principal shopping street is the Rua de Ouvidor, where the beststores and choicest retail goods are to be found. In the Rua dosOurives,—"Goldsmith's Street,"—the display of fine jewelry,diamonds, and other precious stones recalls the Rue de la Paix of Paris.Diamonds are held at quite as high prices as in London or New York, andthose of the best quality can be bought better at retail out of thiscountry than in it. A poor quality of stone, off color, is imported andoffered here as being of native production, and careless purchasers arenot infrequently deceived by cunning dealers in these matters.

Two vehicles cannot pass each other in this avenue without drivingupon the narrow sidewalk. At times a deafening uproar prevails alongthese circ*mscribed lanes. The rough grinding of wheels, noisybootblacks, whooping orange-sellers, screaming newspaper boys, howlingdogs, the rattle of the street peddler, lottery ticket venders, fightingstreet gamins, all join to swell the mingled chorus. And yet thesecrowded thoroughfares would lose half of their picturesqueness werethese elements to be banished from them. They each and all add a certaincrude element of interest to this every-day picture of Vanity Fair.

In their ambition to copy European and North American fashions, thegentlemen of Rio utterly disregard the eternal fitness of things,wearing broadcloth suits of black, with tall, stove-pipe hats, neitherof which articles should be adopted for a moment in their torridclimate. Nothing could be more inappropriate. Linen clothing and lightstraw hats are the true costume for the tropics, naturally suggestingthemselves in hot climates to the exclusion of woolen, heat-brewingcostumes, which are necessary articles of wear in the north. Fashion,however, ignores climate and is omnipotent everywhere; comfort issubsidiary. Wear woolen clothing by all means, gentlemen of Rio, evenwhen the thermometer hangs persistently at 95° Fahr. in the shade, andthe human body perspires like a mountain stream.

The tramway system of Rio is excellent in a crude way. Statisticsshow that fifty million passengers are annually transported by thispopular means from one part of the city to another, and into thesuburbs. The street railway was first introduced here by North Americanenterprise, the pioneer route being that between the city proper and thebotanical garden. The prices of passage vary according to distances, asis the case with the London omnibuses. The cars are all open ones, ofcheap, coarse construction, and far from inviting in appearance, beingentirely unupholstered, and affording only hard board seats forpassengers to sit upon. They are usually drawn by one small donkey,whose strength is quite overtasked, but the ground in the city is sonearly level that the cars move very easily and rapidly.

There is one delightful excursion from Rio which nearly all strangersare sure to enjoy. We refer to the ascent of Corcovado, the mountainwhich looms over Botafogo Bay to the height of twenty-two hundred feet,and to the summit of which a railway has been constructed. The gradesare extremely steep, and the road is what is called a centre line,worked upon the cog-wheel system, the ascent being very slow andwinding. The principle is the same as that of the railway by which MountWashington is ascended, in New Hampshire, or the Righi, in Switzerland.This road was built by the national government, but as a pecuniaryspeculation it does not pay, though it is of considerable indirectbenefit to the city. We will not dilate upon the grand outlook to be hadfrom the summit of the Hunchback, which takes in a bird's-eye view ofthe harbor and its surroundings, but will add that no one should comehither without ascending Corcovado. The top consists of two roundedmasses of bare rock, and is walled in to prevent accident, there beingon one side a perpendicular descent of a thousand feet. It gives one atfirst a dizzy sensation to look down upon the vast city spread out overthe plain, from whence a hum of mingled sounds comes up with singulardistinctness. Even the bells upon the mules which are attached to thetram-cars can be distinguished, and other sounds still more delicate andminute. Just so balloonists tell us that at two or three thousand feetin mid-air they can distinguish the voices of individuals upon the earthbelow them. The experienced traveler learns to be astonished at nothing,but there are degrees of pleasure induced by beautiful and majesticviews which mount to the apex of our capacity for admiration. One cansafely promise such a realizing sense to him who ascends theCorcovado.

A tramway which starts from the centre of the city will take thetraveler to the base of the hill, through roads lined by palms of greatage and beauty, finally leaving him near the point from whence the steamroad begins the upward journey.

Nictheroy, just across the harbor of Rio, on the east side of thebay, is a sort of faubourg of the capital, with which it is connected bya line of steam ferry-boats, as Chelsea is with Boston, or Brooklyn withthe city of New York. It is the capital of the province of Rio Janeiro,and has broader streets, is more reasonably laid out, and is kept morecleanly than Rio itself. Space is found for a profusion of attractivegardens, and the senses are greeted by sweet odors in the place ofneedlessly offensive smells, which attack one on all sides in themetropolis so near at hand. It is quite a relief to get on to one of theferry-boats and cross over to Nictheroy occasionally, for a breath ofpure air. This is the native Indian name of the place, and signifies"hidden water," particularly applicable when these land-locked bays wereshrouded in dense tropical woods.

Unlike Pará, Montevideo, and Buenos Ayres, this city has no specialriver communication with the interior, but her commerce is large andincreasing. Railroads are more reliable feeders for business than eitherrivers or canals. It is a fact which is not generally realized, thatBrazil has over six thousand miles of well-constructed railways inoperation, besides having a telegraph system covering seven thousandmiles of land service. In the construction of the railroads, the cost,so far as the ground work and grading was concerned, was reduced to theminimum, owing to the level nature of the country. As was the case inNew Zealand, many of these railways were constructed at great expense,in anticipation of the wants of a future population, who it was hopedwould settle rapidly upon the route which they followed. That is to say,many of these roads did not open communication between populousdistricts already in existence. This would have been perfectlylegitimate. They run to no particular objective point, and seem to stopfinally nowhere. The natural sequence followed. After being built andequipped with borrowed money, they were anything but self-supporting,and pecuniary aid from the government was freely given to enable them tobe kept in operation.

There must always come a day of reckoning for all such forcedschemes, and the Brazilian railways were no exception to the rule. Thisis largely the primary cause of the present monetary troubles in thiscountry, as well as in the Argentine Republic. The capital for theconstruction of these roads came mostly from England, and that countryhas been accordingly a heavy pecuniary sufferer. The rates charged fortransportation upon most of the lines are also exorbitant, if we wererightly informed; so much so, in fact, as to prove nearly prohibitory.Scarcely any species of merchandise brought from a considerable distanceinland will bear such freight charges and leave a margin for profit tothe producer and shipper. Would-be planters of coffee and sugar-canedare not enter upon raising these staples for the market, unlesssituated very near the shipping point, or near some available river'scourse, the latter means being naturally much cheaper than any form ofrailway transportation.

Situated on the border of two zones, Rio Janeiro has the products ofboth within her reach, and thus possesses peculiar advantages forextensive trade and general commerce. It is in this latter directionthat her progressive and enterprising merchants are endeavoring toextend the facilities of the port. The passenger landings—notwharves—which border the water front of the city here and thereare of solid granite, from which at suitable intervals broad stone stepslead 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 ourNorth American ports. We know of no harbor on the globe which enjoys amore eligible situation as regards the commerce of foreign countries,both of the New and the Old World. The one convenience so imperativelydemanded is proper wharves for the landing and shipping of cargoes, thusobviating the necessity of the expensive and tedious lighter system. Itis her many natural and extraordinary advantages which has led to sosteady a growth of the city, notwithstanding the very serious drawbackof an unwholesome climate, aggravated by the indolence and incapacity ofthe local authorities in sanitary matters. Both consumption and yellowfever have proved more fatal here than at any other port in SouthAmerica, so far as we could draw comparisons.

The well-equipped marine arsenal of Rio is of considerable interestand importance, as there is no other port on the Atlantic coast, betweenthe Gulf of Mexico and Cape Horn, where a large modern vessel can gointo dry dock for needed repairs. This receptacle is ample in size, andis substantially built of granite. Such an establishment as a nationalshipyard is a prime necessity to a commercial country like Brazil, whichhas eleven hundred leagues of seacoast.

In the Plaza Constitution, which is a very grand and spacious park inthe heart of the city, there is an elaborate and costly statue of thefather of the late emperor, of heroic size. The pedestal is surroundedby four bronze groups, representing typical scenes of early Indian lifein this country. The Paseo Publico is also a garden-like spot, extendingthree or four hundred feet along the bay. This is a cool and favoriteresort of the populace. On the corners of the principal streets andsquares there are little octagonal structures called kiosks, gaylypainted, where hot coffee, lottery tickets, and bonbons are sold, aswell as newspapers and flowers. Here, as in Havana, the city of Mexico,Naples, and many European cities, the lottery proves to be a terriblecurse to the common people, draining their pockets and diverting themfrom all ideas of steady-going business. It is customary also for theregularly organized business establishments to patronize the lotterywith never-failing regularity, charging a certain monthly sum to expenseaccount, but the money is nevertheless paid out for lottery tickets. Thebad moral effect of this upon clerks and all concerned is very obvious.When by chance any prize, be it never so small, is awarded, a greatflurry is made of the fact, and advertisem*nts emphasize it, thus toincite fresh investments in this organized public swindle. Tickets aresold by boys and girls, men and women, and half the talk of thethoughtless multitude is about the lottery, how to hit upon luckynumbers, and so on.

It is a mistaken though popular idea that our New Englandconsumptives have only to seek some tropical locality to alleviate theirspecial trouble. Rio seems to be particularly fatal to persons sufferingfrom pulmonary troubles. The same may be said of many other tropicalregions. When consumption is developed in the Bahamas, Cuba, or theSandwich Islands, for instance, it runs its fatal course with a speednever realized in the Northern States of America. Physicians do not sendpatients to foreign localities so indiscriminately as they used to.Almost every sort of climate is to be found within the borders of theUnited States, where also civilized comforts are more universally to beobtained than abroad. Besides which, an invalid does not have to braveseasickness and other ocean hardships, if sent to some eligible localitywithin our own borders.

Though Brazil has long been, and is still, famous for its productionof diamonds, precious stones, and gold, yet these are as nothing whencompared with her exports of sugar, coffee, and hides, not taking intoaccount her product of rice, cocoa, tobacco, dyewoods, and otherimportant staples. A large portion of the abnormal growth of her forestsis valuable for its timber, resins, fibre, and fruits. It is naturally avery rich country, with a world of wealth in its soil, but miserablefinancial mismanagement has caused the national treasury to becomeutterly bankrupt, and at this writing mercantile credit is an unknownquantity, so to speak. The natural resources of the country areunlimited; therefore it must be only a question of time when a healthyreaction shall set in, and a period of sound prosperity follow.

It should be remembered in this connection that the immediate countryof which we are speaking, that is, Brazil as a whole, is as large as theUnited States, leaving out the territory of Alaska.

CHAPTER IX.

Outdoor Scenes in Rio Janeiro.—The LittleMarmoset.—The Fish Market.—Secluded Women.—The RomishChurch.—Botanical Garden.—Various Species ofTrees.—Grand Avenue of Royal Palms.—AboutHumming-Birds.—Climate of Rio.—Surrounded by YellowFever.—The Country Inland.—Begging on theStreets.—Flowers.—"Portuguese Joe."—SocialDistinctions.

It would require many pages to properly describe RioJaneiro with its curious phases of street life, its manners and customs,its local peculiarities, and moving panorama of events, all combining tomake up a unique personality. These out-of-door scenes go far to tellthe true story of any special locality. The fruit and vegetable market,near Palace Square, is a highly attractive place to visit at earlymorning. The negro women venders, always stout and portly creatures,with heads turbaned in many-colored bandannas, are eloquent inrecommending their articles for sale, and are also very shrewd at abargain. It is not uncommon for these middle-aged negresses to stand sixfeet high, without shoes or stockings, and to turn the scales at doublethe average weight of men of the same color and class. These women wereall slaves in their girlhood. As regards prices charged for provisions,fruits, and vegetables, in the markets of Rio, they seemed to the authorrather exorbitant, but doubtless permanent residents do not pay suchsums as are charged to strangers for the same articles. We were heartilylaughed at by a housekeeper on stating the cost of a small basket ofchoice fruit which we had purchased, being told that we had paid fourtimes its market value. However, it was well worth the price to us, whohad just arrived from an ocean voyage of five thousand miles and more.On shipboard fruit is necessarily a scarce article, and it was certainlyworth something extra to be introduced for the first time to theluscious products of this region.

The abundance and variety of flowers, as well as their cheapness andfragrance, make them a desirable morning purchase, with all their dewyfreshness upon them. Oranges, limes, pineapples, lemons,alligator-pears, cocoanuts, grapes, mangoes, with an infinite variety ofother fruits, make up the stock in trade, together with squealing pigs,live turkeys, and noisy guinea-fowls. Here also are various gaudyfeathered songsters, in cheap, home-made cages, besides monkeys,marmosets, and other household pets. The macaws, chained by the leg, andthe screaming parrots vie with each other and with the monkeys in theamount of noise they make. Wicker baskets filled with live ducks, geese,and fowls are borne on the heads of native women, who have brought themmany a long weary mile from far inland, hoping to make a few pennies bytheir sale. The chatter of the women, the cries of men and animals, anoccasional quarrel between two noisy Italians, ending in furiousvociferations and gesticulations, all add to the Babel of sound. Onelittle marmoset put his hand into that of the author, looking soappealingly into his face that, imagining the little fellow might behungry, some nice edibles, calculated to rejoice the monkey heart, werepromptly purchased and gratefully received by the marmoset, which, inhis eager haste to consume the same, stuffed the sides of either jaw toalarming proportions. The little creature was wonderfully human, andhaving found a kindly disposed stranger, insisted upon keeping one ofhis tiny hands in our own, while he rapidly filled his mouth with theother.

It is interesting to observe the artistic manner in which the nativewomen, Indians and blacks, mingle and arrange the various fruits andvegetables, showing a natural instinct for the harmonious blending ofcolors and forms. A pile of yellow oranges, green limes, and mangoes hada base of buff-colored bananas picturesquely arranged with all thepointed ends of the finger-like fruit outward, while a luscious ripepineapple formed the apex of the pile, set off jauntily by itscactus-like, prickly leaves. On the borders of the market and along theiron railing of Palace Square, black-haired, bareheaded Italian womendisplayed cheap jewelry, imitation shell, gilded combs, and other fancytrinkets for sale, embracing priestly knick-knacks, ivory crosses,crucifixion scenes, coral beads, high-colored ribbons, and gaudykerchiefs. The bronzed faces of these black-eyed, gypsy-like women werevery cadaverous, as though the land of their adoption did notparticularly agree with them. It seems hardly possible that thesepeddlers could gain a livelihood trading in these tawdry and utterlyuseless articles among such a humble, impecunious class of customers asfrequent the market, and yet their numerous wide-open, shallow tin boxesshowed a considerable stock of goods.

The fish market is a curious sight in the variety of colors andshapes afforded by the inhabitants of the neighboring bay, where most ofthem are caught. What an array of finny monsters!—rock-fish, largeas halibut, ray, skates, craw-fish, cuttle-fish, and prawns half aslarge as lobsters, together with devil-fish and oysters. Funny idea, butthese 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 thebranches overhang the sea, and are submerged therein. To these youngoysters affix themselves, and there they live and thrive. The samephenomenon was observed by the author some years ago in Cuba. Theseoysters are found in small corrugated shells scarcely larger than agood-sized English walnut, which they somewhat resemble.

In the fish market one sees some very original characters among thenegro women who preside over the finny tribe. They are large,good-natured creatures, quick at a trade, and quite intelligent. Werecall one, who was a prominent figure among her companions. She wastall, portly, and strong as a horse. Her head was decked with a bandannakerchief of many colors, her flat nose and protruding lips indicatingclose African relationship. Secured behind one of her ears was acigarette, while a friction match protruded from the other, ready foruse. Her coarse calico dress, of deep red, was covered in front by abrown linen apron extending nearly to her bare feet. Her uncovered armswere about as large as a man's legs. This negress dressed the severalkinds of fish with the facility of an expert, making change for herpatrons with commendable promptness, and dismissing them with agood-natured smile, adding some remark which was pretty sure to elicithearty laughter.

As we stood viewing these things, a noisy fellow made himself veryobnoxious to every person whom he met. He had evidently been too oftento the neighboring spirit-shops. A police officer arrested the man bytouching him lightly on the shoulder and saying a few words to him;then, pointing ahead, made the fellow precede him to the lock-up. Thoughthis disturber of the peace was half drunk, he knew too much to resistan officer, which is considered to be a heinous offense and is severelypunished in Rio. It was natural to contrast this scene with the violentresistance offered by offenders with whom the police of New York andBoston have often to deal.

The streets of Rio, at all times of the day, present a motley crowdof half-naked negroes, overladen donkeys, lazy Portuguese, Italian, andSpanish loafers, smoking cheap cigars, with here and there a Jew hawkingarticles of personal wear, women with various heavy articles upon theirheads, water carriers, vociferous sellers of confectionery, all movinghither and thither, each one intent upon his or her individual interestand oblivious of all others. The background to this kaleidoscopicpicture is the low, stucco-finished houses, painted in lively red,yellow, or blue, interspersed here and there by bas-reliefs, the wholereflecting the rays of a torrid sun. Though it is all quite different,yet somehow it recalls the narrow, crowded streets and bazaars of Cairoand Alexandria. It is very natural, in passing, to regard with interestthose screened balconies, and to imagine what the lives may be of thehalf orientally excluded women within them, while occasionally catchingluminous glances from curious eyes. The notes of a guitar, or those ofthe piano, often reach the ear of the passer-by, sometimes accompaniedby the ringing notes of a song, for the ladies of Brazil are extremelyfond of music; indeed, it seems to be almost their only distraction. Ofbooks they know very little, and any literary reference is to them likespeaking in an unknown tongue. Even the one poet of Portugal, Camoens,appears to be a stranger on this side of the Atlantic. The isolation andwant of intellectual resort among the average women of this country area sad reality, and are in a degree their excuse for some unfortunateindulgences and immoralities, domestic unfaithfulness being as commonhere as in Paris or Vienna.

The majority of the Brazilian women marry at or before the age ofsixteen, and become old, as we use the term, at thirty. The climate andthe cares of maternity together age them prematurely. In early youth,and until they have reached twenty three or four years, they are almostuniversally very handsome, but this beauty is not retained, as is oftenthe case among the sex in colder climes. Of their charms, it must behonestly admitted that they are almost purely physical (animal); thebeauty which high culture imparts to the features, by informing the mindand developing the intellect, is not found as a rule among Brazilianwomen. Of course there are some delightful and notable exceptions tothis conclusion, but we speak of the women, generally, of what is termedthe better class. Now and then one meets with ladies who have beeneducated in the United States, or in Europe, upon whom early and refinedassociations have left an unmistakable impress. The superiority of suchis at once manifest, both in general ease of manner, and theinexplicable charm which high breeding imparts.

One searches in vain for a full-faced, well-developed, hearty lookingman, among the natives in the streets of this capital. The averagepeople, both high and low, are sallow, undersized, and cadaverous.Sunken cheeks and thin figures are the rule among the men, a passingNorth American or Englishman only serving to furnish a strong andsuggestive contrast. These people have brilliantly expressive eyes, withhandsome teeth and mouths, though half shriveled up and undeveloped inbody. If one pauses to analyze the matter, he comes to the conclusionthat vice and short commons, unwholesome morals and an unwholesomeclimate, have much to do with this prevailing appearance, which must bein part hereditary, to be so universal, commencing some way back andincreasing with the generations. As in Mexico, gentlemen meeting on thestreets of Rio hug each other with both arms, at the same timeinflicting two or three quick, earnest slaps with the flat of the handupon the back. This is perhaps after an absence of a few days; but ifthey meet ten times a day, off come their hats, and they shake handswith the most earnest demonstrations, both at meeting and at parting.Kissing on both cheeks is common enough in many parts of Europe amongsociety people, but this hugging business between men meeting upon thepublic streets strikes one as a waste of the raw material.

It goes without saying that the popular religion of Rio Janeiro andthe country at large is that of the Romish Church, though alldenominations are tolerated by the laws of the republic. In somedistricts it is the same here as in Mexico and continental Spain, theProtestants being persecuted in every possible manner. Nevertheless, thepower of the priesthood, we were creditably informed, is on the wane.They owe the loss of it in a great measure to the gross abuse of theirpositions and their shamefully immoral lives. No one conversant with thetrue state of the case, be he Protestant or Romanist, can deny thisstatement. The author thought that the Roman Catholic priests of Mexicowere about as wicked a set of men as he had ever met with, taken as awhole, but further experience in South America has convinced him thatthe Mexican priesthood have their equals in immorality in Brazil, andelsewhere south of Panama. The popular religion of the country is one ofthe saddest features of its national existence, forming the greatdrag-weight upon its moral, and indirectly upon its physicalprogress.

The Botanical Garden of Rio is a justly famous resort, situated aboutsix miles from the city, behind the Corcovada, between that mountain andthe sea, but it is easily reached by tramway, or better still by adelightful drive along the shore of Botafogo Bay, over a road shaded byimperial palms, together with occasional clusters of the ever beautifulbamboo, the sight of which recalled the luxuriant specimens seen inJapan and Sumatra. The nearest approach to this admirable public gardenis to be found at Kandy, in the island of Ceylon, which, as we rememberit, is considerably more extensive, and presents a larger variety oftropical 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 orleaves except at the top, was pointed out to us here. It is so calledbecause it is the favorite resort of that animal. This creature is veryeasily captured, and the natives are fond of its meat, which may benutritious, but it can hardly be called palatable. As it is almostentirely a vegetable-feeding animal, we know not why there should be anyobjection to the meat it produces. The sloth climbs up into the tallbranches of the tree described, though it does so with considerabledifficulty, and there remains until it has consumed every leaf andtender shoot which it bears; then the voracious creature wanders off tofind and denude another.

The bread-fruit tree is interesting, with its handsome featheryleaves, and its large, melon-shaped product. It grows to fifty feet inheight, and bears fruit constantly for three quarters of the year, thentakes a three months' rest. It is only equaled in the profuseness of itsproduct by the banana, forming one of the staple sources of food supplyto the lazy, indolent denizens of tropical regions. The candelabra-tree,with its silver-tinted foliage, is one of the beauties of this charmingBrazilian garden. Among other notable trees are fine specimens of thecamphor-tree, the tamarind, the broad-spreading mango, opulent infruitfulness, the flowering magnolia, also the soap-tree, with itssaponaceous berries. The cochineal cactus was thriving after its kind,near by what is called the cow-tree, which interests one quite as muchas any of its companions, rising over a hundred feet in height, with ared bark and fig-like leaves. The milk which it yields is of cream-likeconsistency, very similar to that from a cow, and it may be used for anyordinary purpose to which we put that article. The tree is tapped, as wetreat the sugar-maple, in order to obtain its very remarkable and usefulproduct. It is nutritious, that is freely admitted; but most probably ithas some medicinal properties of a latent character, though of this wecould learn nothing.

The world-famed avenue of royal palms in the Botanical Garden of Riois unique, being undoubtedly the finest tropical arboretum in the worldarranged by the hand of man. We saw here a delicate little member of thepalm family, a sort of baby tree, known as the small-stemmed palm ofPará. Many trees from Asia have become domesticated side by side withthe maple, the pine, and the elm from New England. Some of the largetrees were decked with orchids and hanging lichens, the dainty andfantastic ornamentation of nature herself, not promoted by artificialmeans. The humidity of the atmosphere especially facilitates the growthof this beautiful family of plants, which are as erratic in shape asthey are variegated in prismatic colors.

It would require a whole chapter to do even partial justice to thisremarkable garden behind the Corcovado mountain.

One sees here myriads of delicate humming-birds, wonderful animatedgems of color, remarkable in Brazil for their metallic hues. Suchbrilliancy of lustre, glancing in the warm sunlight, is fascinating tobehold. The Spaniards call these delicate little creatures "wingedflowers," and the Portuguese, "flower-kissers." A lady resident of Riotold the author of the vain attempt of a patient German scientist todomesticate a few specimens of these birds. He commenced by taking themfrom the nest soon after they were hatched, at various periods of theirgrowth, and even after they had learned to fly, but although infinitecare was taken to supply their usual food, and also not to confine themtoo closely, the naturalist was fain to acknowledge the impossibility ofaccomplishing his object, though the experiment extended over a periodof two years. The ceaseless activity of this frail little bird rendersany circ*mscribing of its liberty fatal to existence.

Delicate, innocent, and apparently harmless as butterflies, thesediminutive creatures are often very pugnacious, and when two malesengage in a contest with each other, which is not seldom the case, oneor the other often loses his life. If disturbed during the period ofincubation, they will attack large birds and even human beings,directing their long, needle-like bills at the offender's eyes. Ourinformant told us the particulars of a man who, under suchcirc*mstances, came very near losing both of these organs. Scientistshave succeeded in preserving over two hundred different specimens ofthis little feathered beauty, representing that number of speciesindigenous to Brazil. Some of these are only five or six times as largeas a humble-bee. The artificial flowers already referred to as being forsale in the shops of Rio depend almost entirely upon the humming-birdfor their delicate beauty; no other feathered creature affords suchmarvelous colors and exquisitely fine material for the purpose. The bestspecimens of this work are necessarily expensive, requiring, besides atruly artistic taste and eye, skill of execution, infinite patience, andmuch time, to produce them. We saw a choice design of this sort,measuring about fifteen by twenty inches, framed under a glass, thedesign being a bouquet of natural flowers, for which the asking pricewas five hundred dollars; four hundred and fifty had been refused. Thefeathers were almost entirely from the throat and breast ofhumming-birds, arranged by a woman who had made this work the occupationof her life from girlhood. We learned that such a piece of artisticeffect represented nearly a year's labor!

One also finds in the Rio shops flower-pieces ingeniously formed fromthe scales of high-colored fishes, as well as from the wings and bodiesof native insects characterized by brilliant colors, but these of coursewill not compare in delicacy and beauty with the products of thefeathers. The Brazilian beetle is prepared in a myriad of ornamentalforms and in many combinations, sometimes mingled with feathers. In theRua dos Ourives there are two or three shops where a great variety ofsuch objects is offered for sale. These stores have also many choicenative stones of great beauty, including the true Brazilian topaz, forwhich there is a growing and appreciative demand.

The idea prevails that the climate of Rio is like some parts ofAfrica, suffocatingly hot all the time, but this is not correct. TheAmerican consul told the author that he had suffered more from the coldthan from the heat in the environs of the city, where his residence isin a rather elevated district. He declared that the temperature, even intown, was rarely so extreme as is often found in the cities of theUnited States. He believes that the yellow fever might be effectuallybanished from Rio by the adoption of strict quarantine and effectivesanitary measures in the city proper. As we have already intimated,consumption prevails here to an alarming extent. This is doubtless owingto the peculiar dampness of the atmosphere. We found that statisticsshow one half as many deaths from consumption as from yellow fever,taking the aggregate of five years. "The one disease comes annually inthe heat of summer only, as a rule," said our informant, "while theother 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 fiftyfatal cases of yellow fever a day were recorded, and doubtless more thanthat number actually fell victims to its ravages, as only those who diedin the several hospitals were enumerated. We were in the city in June,one of the winter months in this latitude. Heretofore the fever hasnearly always disappeared, as an epidemic, by the first or middle ofMay, even in years when it has been most prevalent and fatal.Notwithstanding the charm of novelty which so absorbs the stranger, weare free to confess there was a lurking dread of the subtle enemy whichproved so swift and fatal all about us. Fifty deaths daily by yellowfever in a population exceeding half a million only served to show thatit still lingered in a sporadic form where the seeds are perhaps neverentirely exterminated. It most readily attacks strangers and theunacclimated, but no class is exempt. The indigent, careless, drunkenportion of the population are no more liable, we were informed, tocontract the disease than others of better habits. This outrages allpreconceived notions of diseases of this character, but we were assuredby good authority that it was really so. The day we left Rio, theEnglish Bishop, a most estimable man, who was universally respected andbeloved, died of the fell disease.

The summer season begins in October and lasts until April, and isbetter known here as the wet season, the rain falling with greatregularity nearly every afternoon, and at about the same time. Usuallyan hour of liberal downpour is experienced, then it promptly clears upand becomes bright and pleasant. The warmest month is February. Thewinter months are May, June, July, and August; this is the dry season,during which very little rain falls. The climate appears to beparticularly injurious to persons who are troubled with a torpid liver.Elephantiasis is indigenous, but it is not very common; the few casesseen were upon the streets, and were those of negroes who exposed theirdiseased limbs to excite public pity, making the affliction an excusefor systematic begging. A score of such unfortunates were seen daily inand about Palace Square, and one or two regularly posted themselvesbefore the Globe Restaurant, which is the Maison Dorée of RioJaneiro.

The well-to-do merchants do not think of living in town, but selectsome pleasant spot in the environs, where they erect picturesque homes,often extremely attractive to the eye architecturally, and surrounded bylovely gardens, containing both native and exotic plants and trees. Thecontrast between commercial and rural Rio is something very striking.One presents all the grossness and belittling aspect of money-getting,the other the graces, liberality, and ennobling appearance of cultureand refinement. Of all the trees in these attractive environs, the palm,in its great variety, challenges one's admiration most. We mention itfrequently, for it was our constant delight. At every turn one comesupon it, in its several species,—the cocoa-palm, the palmetto, thecabbage, the assai-palm, the fanshaped-palm, and scores of othervarieties. The hand and taste of woman are seen in these gardens of theenvirons. Flowers are selected and arranged as only feminine taste couldsuggest, while the broad piazzas are simply floral bowers and gardens ofplacid delights.

The province round about Rio is beautified and rendered profitable bythe many large coffee plantations, particularly attractive when thewell-trimmed bushes are seen in full bearing, bending under the weightof red berries. Orange orchards abound, the branches of the trees heavywith the rich golden fruit; yet as an orange-producing section, Florida,in our own country, is fully its equal. The fruit of the southern partof the United States is much better and more intelligently cultivated,and is larger and fairer, than the fruit of this region. We exceptBahia, however, in this remark; that is the very paradise of oranges.Besides the abundance of fruits, Flora reigns in Brazil, and near to Riobignonias, passifloras, variegated honeysuckles, morning-glories,magnolias, and orchids mingle with the dark green mango trees and thedelicate light green mimosas which meet the eye everywhere. It appearsthat the several species of flowers have their special season forblooming, when they are at their best, so that a large variety is alwaysseen in bloom at all times in the year. We must confess to having felthalf lost without the "Queen of Flowers," our grand favorite; but as toroses, it was found that the ever present ants maintained a fixedhostility to them, rendering it particularly difficult to rear them inthis country. In all of the many lands we have visited, the author hasnever seen such superbly developed roses as are produced in and aboutthe city of Boston. There is some quality in the climate of New England,added to the genius of her famous florists, especially adapted to theirperfection.

The broad leafed umbrella-tree—chapeo do sul—isoften seen in this neighborhood cultivated as a shade tree, both in townand country, while the thick clustering bamboo, so often referred to,adds its unique beauty to the environs in all directions. The banana andplantain, both cultivated and wild, thrive hereabouts, and form animportant adjunct to the food supply of all classes. The banana iscultivated by offsets, and is of rapid growth, coming to maturity andbearing fruit a few months after it is planted. Brazil seems to be wellcalled the home of fruits and flowers.

Has the reader ever chanced to hear of "Portuguese Joe," of RioJaneiro? He is a man as well known in the capital of Brazil as the lateemperor. Ostensibly he is only a successful shipchandler, wholesalegrocer, purveyor—by appointment—to the American and Britishnaval ships which put into Rio, or which are stationed here; but overand above his extensive commercial relations, we found him to be a GoodSamaritan. He is quite ready for legitimate business, and has realized ahandsome fortune by fair and honorable dealing. He charges a reasonableprofit upon the various supplies which he furnishes, but his goods areexactly what he represents them to be, and he has the confidence of allwho deal with him. His establishment grew up from a small beginning, hehaving come from Portugal to engage in business when only thirteen yearsof age. To-day he is in the prime of life, and his store on the Paraçade Dom Pedro II. is a city institution. The highest official, thewealthiest bankers, and the most influential merchants are glad to shakehim cordially by the hand. Signor J. C. V. Mendes—the other titlebeing a trade nom de plume of long standing—is a gentlemanby nature, and a true friend to all strangers who seek his counsels onarriving at Rio. We fortunately became acquainted with Signor Mendes onthe first day of our landing, and are glad to speak of his readycourtesy and desire to make all Americans at home who arrive in thecapital of Brazil. It is no particular recommendation, but it is apleasure to say that, with his calm, self-possessed manner, hisbrilliant black eyes and genial smile lighting up his bronzed features,he is unquestionably the handsomest man whom we chanced to meet in RioJaneiro. Manly beauty is not an imperative adjunct to excellence, but isstill a very agreeable accessory.

One naturally anticipates but will not find any social distinction asto race in this city. Color opposes no obstacle to progress ineducational or official position. Pupils of the public schools meet onthe same footing and mingle promiscuously. There is nothing to preventthe intelligent negro from becoming a judge or minister of state, orfrom filling any high civil office, if he develops proper ability. Manybureaus in the public offices are held by colored men, observably in thecustom house, and the race generally is regarded with far more respectthan with us in the United States.

Providence has liberally endowed the larger portion of Brazil with afertile soil, an unrivaled flora, and a delightful climate. For atropical country, it is remarkably temperate and salubrious. It hasmountain scenery excelling that of Switzerland, with fertile valleyssurpassing those of Italy, and myriads of rivers affording ample meansof transportation with natural and abundant irrigation. Unlike many ofher sister states, including those on the west coast of the continent,she is exempt from earthquakes and the destruction caused by devouringtidal waves. While so much of Mexico and thousands of miles of thePacific coast are scorched by drought, there are no districts of Brazilexempt from regular and refreshing rains, the importance of which cannotbe overestimated. To crown all else, the splendid harbor of her capitalby its size, safety, and beauty invites the commerce of the world. Itwould certainly seem, when we realize all of these special advantages,that nature had intended so large and favored a portion of the globe toultimately be the home of a great, powerful, and prosperous nation.

That the material growth of Brazil is mainly in the right directionis manifest to the most casual observer. The many lines of railwayspenetrating the country in every province will by and by prove to beeffective means of development. Wherever the facilities are liberallyafforded, not only individuals, but ideas, are sure to travel, andsocial and material improvement must follow. Civilization keeps pacewith the iron horse. When the street rails penetrated the cañons ofUtah, polygamy was doomed. Material facts are stronger than arguments ofwell-meaning moralists. The establishment of so many railroads throughthe wilds of South America may not be a paying matter, it is not so atthis writing, but a great moral purpose, and that of true progress, willbe subserved by them. They will be the agents of enlightenment andcivilization to many wild tribes of Indians, at the same time openingbroad and favorable tracts of territory for settlement by emigrants fromthe crowded and overstocked states of Europe.

On the homeward passage, when we visited Rio Janeiro for the secondtime, it was found to be rife with politics; but like Joseph's coat, ofso many colors as to be confusing to a foreigner. It may reasonably bedoubted if the natives themselves clearly understood what they wanted.The revolutionary element seemed very strong, and was led by men who hadnothing to lose by agitation, but everything to gain by a lawlessuprising. The most intelligent citizens predicted a popular revolutionof some sort in the near future, and their anticipation proved to becorrect. Revolution is chronic in South America.

CHAPTER X.

Petropolis.—Summer Residence of the Citizensof Rio.—Brief Sketch of the late Royal Family.—Dom Pedro'sPalace.—A Delightful Mountain Sanitarium.—A Successful butBloodless Revolution.—Floral Delights.—MountainScenery.—Heavy Gambling.—A GermanSettlement.—Cascatinha.—Remarkable Orchids.—LocalTypes.—A Brazilian Forest.—Compensation.

Petropolis,—or the city of Peter,—thefashionable summer resort of the citizens of Rio Janeiro, is a moderntown, dating only from 1844, and contains at that season of the year apopulation of some eight thousand. The intense heat of the crowded cityin the summer months, not to mention its usually unhealthy condition,makes even the acclimated inhabitants seek a refuge in the hills. Solong as the fever continues to rage, merchants leave their familieshere, and come up nightly to sleep and breathe the fresh, pure air. Itis only on the coast and in crowded communities that epidemics prevail.We were told by residents that a case of yellow fever never originatedat Petropolis; that it was too elevated for the citizens to fearanything of the sort. It is so generally throughout the country; theyellow fever prevails only in the ports and at sea level, a peculiarityalso observable in Cuba and the several West Indian islands. When thefever prevails, as it does annually at Havana and Matanzas, the wealthycitizens, and all unacclimated people who are able to do so, retireinland to elevated localities, where they are comparatively safe fromthe scourge. The same rule applies to the coast cities of SouthAmerica,—Pará, Pernambuco, Bahia, etc. It is a very importantmatter to the merchants of Rio that they have, within two or threehours' reach of their overheated city offices, a resort where they cansit in a dry skin and sleep in quiet and comfort. Had they not thisresort, they would be obliged to succumb to disease, or to leave Rio forhalf of the year annually.

Petropolis is situated in the Organ Mountain range, about thirtymiles from the metropolis, and is something less than three thousandfeet above tide-water. The town is built in a slight depression amongthe well wooded hills, forming a vale of alpine beauty, easily reachedfrom Rio by boat and rail. The latter portion of the trip, comprising asharp mountain ascent, is made by a system of railroad like that bywhich the summit of Corcovado is reached. The popular route is to crossthe harbor at Rio by a large and commodious steamboat, a distance oftwelve miles, and then to take the steam-cars. There is also anotherrailroad route, all the way by land. The late emperor's summer palace isthe prominent feature of Petropolis, together with its elaborategardens, covering some fifteen or twenty acres of land. Hither come thediplomatic representatives of foreign nations to enjoy the salubriousmountain air and the hospitable society of the best people of RioJaneiro, and to lay aside many of the constraints of city life. A greatcontrast is apparent here to the crowded streets and narrow lanes of theuncleanly capital, while the air is undoubtedly remarkable for itshealthful and invigorating qualities. The summer palace is surrounded byelegantly arranged grounds, planted with rare flowers and choice treesfrom every clime. In general effect it resembles an old English countryhouse, except for the tropical vegetation, the fine verdant lawns ofgrass, the only ones of any extent in the country, being particularlynoticeable. This mountain resort has been called the Versailles ofBrazil.

It seems appropriate to recall, in brief, the family history of thelate emperor, Dom Pedro II., of whose favorite abiding-place we arespeaking. He enjoyed a distinguished reputation among modern rulers, wasliberal, scholarly, and possessed of great experience of men and theworld at large. Having been an observant and studious traveler in manyparts of the globe, his endeavor was to adopt the best well-triedsystems of other governments in educational and other matters relatingto political economy. His system was mild, progressive, and designed forthe general good of the people over whom he presided; in fact, it wastoo mild for the turbulent, unlettered masses of the provinces ofBrazil. They were not intellectually prepared for such leniency.

The royal family of Portugal fled hither in 1808, at the time ofNapoleon's invasion of that country, but returned to Europe in 1821. Anational congress assembled at Rio Janeiro the next year, and chose DomPedro, eldest son of King Joâo VI. of Portugal, "Perpetual Defender ofBrazil." He proclaimed the independence of the country, and was chosen"Constitutional Emperor." In 1831 he abdicated in favor of his only son,Dom Pedro II., who reigned as emperor until November 15, 1889, when hewas dethroned by a bloodless revolution, and, together with his family,was exiled, Brazil declaring herself a republic under the title she nowbears of the United States of Brazil. The feeling was nearly universalamong the Brazilians that they desired to live under a republican formof government, but Dom Pedro II. was a man of such estimable character,so just, intelligent, and popular a ruler, that the revolution, whichfinally dethroned him, was deferred long after it was determined upon.The peaceful manner in which it was finally achieved is perhaps withoutprecedent, and shows how thoroughly the mind of the active spirits ofthe nation was made up to this end. It was a political coupd'état, accomplished without the burning of an ounce of gunpowder.The emperor himself seemed to accept the position as a foregoneconclusion. We learned from persons who had been quite intimate with himthat he had already anticipated the whole condition of affairs,foreseeing that it was inevitable. If this is so, he was wise as well asdiplomatic and humane, for he had enough devoted adherents about him tohave made a serious though doubtless futile conflict for possession.There are always myriads of the unthinking rabble ready to join and evenfight for authority which is already established, especially whenseconded, as was the case with Dom Pedro, by a strong personalpopularity.

The palace at Petropolis is, with its extensive grounds, now offeredfor sale, the country having no further use for palaces. It isunderstood that a local syndicate propose to purchase the whole and cutup the land into building lots, which are very much in demand just atthis writing. It would not be surprising if Petropolis were to doubleits population during the next four or five years. Speculators arealready at work "booming" the place, and a summer home here is just whatthe Rio merchant requires.

Some queer stories are told about the every-day life of Dom Pedro byhis neighbors. It seems, according to these reports,—for the truthof which we cannot vouch,—that he often chose as his associatesand advisers uneducated persons of very humble origin, who hadaccumulated wealth by shrewdness and industry, besides which he latterlyexhibited many very peculiar traits of character; but, as we say, it isdifficult to decide whether these stories are to be relied upon. It ismore than hinted that he had grown very weak minded, or, as the Scotchsay, had a bee in his bonnet. At all events, it now appears that he didnot possess the necessary energy and executive ability requisite tocontrol a naturally turbulent and restless people, and that his summarydethronement, so peaceably accomplished, must have come sooner orlater.

It is very natural to speculate upon the present state of affairs inthis country, since the change has taken place. To render a republicpossible and successful requires a liberal degree of intelligence amongthe common people, that is, the masses at large. Unfortunately Brazilcannot boast of such a condition among her population. The educated,cultured portion of the community is quite limited, consequently thecountry is hardly fit for self-government. Ignorant masses are onlyamenable to the strong arm, and cannot, while untaught, be controlledthrough the influence of reason and argument. Past experience shows usthat while a republic in the United States, France, or Switzerland meansfreedom and order, in these half barbaric southern states it signifiesan alternation of revolution and of military despotism. Subject to therule of Dom Pedro, Brazil was alike free from despotism and fromdisorder, so that it may be questioned whether his liberal reign wasnot, under the circ*mstances, the truest republic for which Brazil wasfitted. Indeed, while these lines are being written, the question of areturn to the former style of government is openly discussed at RioJaneiro, where a state of political imbroglio exists very similar to theconditions which caused the late disastrous civil war in Chili, on theother side of the Andes. Such a shocking outcome, however, need never befeared in Brazil as has been developed by the sister republic on thePacific coast, since both intelligence and civilization are far moreadvanced in Brazil than in Chili.

The town of Petropolis and its neighborhood possesses good roads fordriving purposes, this location having been for several years the prideand pleasure of the late emperor, who made the place what it now is byhis liberal expenditures and the constant improvements which heinstituted, paying for them out of his own private purse. The firstselection of this healthful spot was also his idea, and he felt apersonal pride in doing everything possible towards making it popular.The roads referred to lead one through delightful scenery and highlycultivated neighborhoods, beautified by art, until finally they losethemselves among the hills and amidst impenetrable forests. There areseveral fairly good hotels here, where the charges are moderate and thedomestic conveniences execrable! The great variety of trees to be foundin and about the town is marvelous, the palm and pine prevailing,interspersed with the beautiful feathery Brazilian cedar. The tree-fernswhich grow here to a height of twelve feet are great favorites, withtheir bright green fronds, six feet in length, almost reaching theground as the stalk bends gracefully with their weight. The scarletpassion flower is trained as an ornamental creeper in nearly everygarden-plot, and tall fuchsias in various colors and pearl whitecamellias also abound. We have rarely seen the camellia in such varietyof colors, or such profusion of flowers. It is often found bloomingbeside tall coffee-trees, themselves full of deep green clusteringberries, the tree, where grown for ornamental purposes, being permittedto reach full proportions. Here one sees also a profusion of the richgreen bamboo in prolific groves by the roadside, or surrounding humblecottages, thus forming a welcome shade. In midsummer, so rapid is thegrowth of the bamboo that every twenty-four hours adds two feet to itsheight, or in other words, it grows an inch each hour throughout the dayand the night. Jack's fabulous beanstalk hardly surpasses the bamboo,though the former is an amusing myth, while the latter is simply aliteral fact. Some very lovely gladioli and white roses were noted asadding their beauty to these charming hill gardens in the OrganMountains. So abundant were the flowers of various kinds in the groundswhich surrounded our hotel, that any one was welcome to pluck andappropriate them to the extent of his fancy. The public tables weresupplied with fresh ones every day, forming great living pyramids ofbeautiful colors, emitting inimitable fragrance.

Our hotel was situated on gently rising ground, commanding aconsiderable view of the plateau on which the town stands, with DomPedro's palace in the middle foreground, shaded by groups of palms. Itwas a delight to sit out-of-doors and watch the cloud effects as theyhung over the tree-covered hills and peaks, closing their ranks now andagain, and sweeping over the valley like a dashing charge of cavalry; orcautiously advancing in single scuds like infantry deployed asskirmishers; or, again, mottling the sky in white and peaceful masses.At the brief twilight hour, it was like a living poem to note thevarying sunset hues creeping along the valley and gleaming through thebranches of the grand old trees which broke the sky-line of themountains, and the soft lilac blush of the sky, like a profile insilhouette, 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 thestars gleamed forth through the transparent atmosphere and glorified theadvent of night.

This is nature in her happy moods. A little later, to these exquisitedelights of the moment, an ugly obverse presents itself. "Only man isvile."

From opposite the open window where we sit penning theselines,—it is a Sabbath evening,—there comes the sharp rattleof diceboxes and billiard balls, together with the loud, angry talk ofpersons engaged at gambling games of cards, interrupted by the repeatedcries of the presiding genius of the roulette table: "Make your game,signors, make your game," as he coolly rakes in the winnings of thebank. Italian, French, English, and Spanish adventurers mingle theirjargon with Portuguese in the noisy throng who crowd the gambling"hell." It was said that seventeen thousand dollars were won by aPortuguese gentleman, last evening, in this "casino" just across thestreet, so losers to a like amount, on the same occasion, must have beenrendered half desperate. The wretchedly demoralizing effect of gamblingis apparent throughout all the cities of this republic, the commonlotteries tempting the mass of the people, and various games of chanceothers who have money to risk.

Petropolis is extremely attractive in many respects, the sceneryround about it very much resembling that of Switzerland. The broadstreets are lined with such pretty villas and attractive gardens thatone falls to making romantic pictures of possible delightful thingswhich might naturally happen in them, and is led to peer into nooks andcorners with a prying earnestness amounting almost to impertinence.These avenues contain in their centres deep canals, thirty or forty feetwide, having granite linings and the upper portion of the banks neatlysodded with grass. Through these canals the water from the surroundinghills flows in a pure, rapid stream, carrying away the drainage of thetown, which is emptied into them by underground conduits. Thesewater-ways are crossed by numerous small but substantial bridges,painted scarlet, while the rushing river imparts a delightfulcoolness.

The largest portion of the permanent inhabitants of Petropolis iscomposed of Germans, whose native tongue is heard on all sides, whilethe familiar clatter of wooden shoes speaks of Berlin, Dresden, andother German continental centres. The rosy-cheeked, flaxen-haired,blue-eyed children are also prima facie evidence of the prevailingnationality, though there are a large number of Italians who residehere. The latter keep small shops and are peddlers of fruit, or marblecutters and stucco workers, while many others find employment asgardeners.

The highway to a certain mining district passes through the town, andmany donkeys laden with inland products are constantly to be seen in thestreets en route for Rio, giving the place a business aspect hardlywarranted by the local trade. From the neighboring hills charcoalburners drive their donkeys every morning, laden with that article fordomestic use in the town, forming picturesque groups on the publicsquare, where they await purchasers. Others bring small-cut wood fromthe hill for fuel, packed in little, narrow, toy carts, each drawn by asingle donkey. Scores of donkeys bearing tall, widespread loads of greenfodder 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 thatBirnam wood has literally come to Dunsinane. These animals are almostalways attended by women, who sell the fodder in the market and returnhome at night with such domestic necessities as are required. Women arethe laborers here, as at home in Germany, where they perform the hardwork, while their husbands guzzle beer and smoke endless tobacco.

Petropolis is, as we have said, steadily growing, but the banishmentof the emperor will retard its progress, as it takes from the town itsstrongest element of assured success. We counted about a score of fine,large residences in course of construction. The climate here is likethat of June in New England, and the verdure of the trees isperennial.

There is a charming excursion which strangers rarely fail to enjoy,namely, to a place familiarly known as the Cascades. The villageadjoining these falls is called Cascatinha, and is situated in the lapof the Organ Mountains, about five miles from Petropolis. The roadthither leads along the side of a small but boisterous stream, whichgladdens the ear with its merry, gurgling notes, past lowly, thatchedcottages, orange orchards, bamboo and banana groves, and green breadthsof well-cultivated, undulating land, finally ending in the midst of apanorama of bold mountain peaks, lovely with varied gradations of tint,and subtlest effects of light and shade. Here the abundant waterfurnished by the river, which is artificially adapted to the purpose,forms a series of cascades and falls, at the same time furnishing themotive power for operating extensive cotton and woolen mills, which giveemployment to several hundred men and women. A very humble type of lifemingles hereabouts with that of a much more refined character. Naked orhalf-clad children are seen here and there playing with those who arecomparatively well dressed. Nice cottage homes adjoin those of thepoorest class. Children of both sexes are observed, only partiallycovered with rags, who are endowed with a loveliness of eyes andfeatures, together with handsome figures, causing one to reflect uponthe unfulfilled possibilities of such childish beauty.

Men and women often bring into Petropolis and offer for salebeautiful orchids, which they find in the woods not far away. These theypack in green leaves, retaining a piece of the original bark or woodupon which they have grown. These pretty flowerings of exuberant natureare sold for a trifling price. Some are very remarkable in form andcolor, such as we have never before chanced to see, and for really rareones the finders ask and receive good prices. We saw among them aspecimen of the Flor del Espiritu Santo,—"Flower of the HolySpirit,"—to find which is thought to bring to the fortunatediscoverer good luck, as well as a handsome price for the orchid. Thesewomen may have passed whole days in their search of the forest,patiently breaking their way through nearly impassable jungles, beforenature reveals to them one of her most dainty gems. As a rule, theforests are so dense that it is useless to try to penetrate them, exceptby following some beaten route,—a charcoal burner's road or astraggling way formed by a watercourse.

We well remember, but can only partially describe, the glory andbeauty of the Brazilian primeval forest. The general tone of the coloris brownish rather than light green, influenced by the absence of stronglight, for though the sun is glowing in the open country, here it istwilight. Not one direct beam penetrates the density of the foliage, thesombre drapery of the woods. At first one is awed by the vast extent ofthe forest, by the dark, mournful shadows, by the gigantic treesreaching so far heavenward, forming here and there gothic arcades ofmatchless grandeur, and by the bewildering variety of the undergrowth.Scarcely a tree trunk is seen without its parasite, green with foliagenot 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 companyof its species. So with the bamboo, which is found in the more swampyregions, but always in groups of its own family. These damp woods arethe home of the orchids; it is here that they revel in moisture,clinging to the trunks of tall, columnar trees, fattening on decayedportions of the bark, but forming bits of lovely color, while about thestems of other forest monarchs wind creeping vines of rope-like texture,binding huge trunks in a fatal embrace. Their final strangulation isslow, but it is sure,—only a question of time. Lofty trees bearcharming flowers, as lowly shrubs do in our northern clime. Arborescentferns vie with the palms in poetic beauty, with their elastic, tuftedtops. Bunches of lilac and blossoms of snowy whiteness hang in the air.Drooping mosses depend like human hair from widespread branches, andsoft, velvety moss carpets the way, with here and there dwarf mimosastrailing beneath the ferns. Long vines of woody climbers, in deepolive-green, twine and intertwine among the ranks of stout, aged trees,breaking out at short distances with pink, blue, and scarlet buds,rivaling the color of the birds which flash hither and thither like raysof sunlight breaking through the leafy screen. Now and again the shrillor plaintive notes of unfamiliar songsters fall upon the ear, minglingwith the cooing of the wood-doves and the low drone of the dragon-fly.The magnificent arboreal growth of these forests develops itself intothousands of strange and beautiful forms, stimulated by the constanthumidity of the high temperature.

The atheist must feel himself stifled for breath in the tropicalforest, and his fallacious creed challenged by every surrounding object,while a new light illumines his unwilling soul with irrefutableevidences. 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 religiousinspiration never fail to obtain it, untrammeled by the vulgar tenets ofsectarianism or outraged by the tinsel of church forms andceremonies.

The observant traveler from the north is fain to seek someconsolation, some evidence of the glorious law of compensation, whilecomparing the features of these poetical latitudes with his ownwell-beloved but more prosaic home. He remembers that if these gaudybirds do flout in vivid colors that dazzle and charm the eye, they havenot the exquisite power of song which inspires our more soberly clad NewEngland favorites. Brilliancy of feathers and sweetness of song rarelygo together, a natural fact which suggests a whole moral essay initself. The torrid zone clothes its feathered tribes in glowing plumage,but the colder north endows hers with heart-touching melody. If theflowers of the tropics exhaust the hues of the prism, attracting us bythe oddity of their forms, while blooming in exuberant abundance, thesweet and lowly children of Flora in higher latitudes greet the senseswith a fragrance unknown in equatorial regions. Joy is nowhere all of apiece. Blessings, we are forced to believe, whether in the form ofbeauty of color, fragrance, or melody, are very equally divided all overthe world, and those portions which have not one, as a rule, are almostsure to have the other. When we become eloquent and appreciative in thelively enjoyment of scenes in a new country, it is not always becausethey are more desirable or more beautiful than our own; it is thenewness and the contrast which for the moment so captivate us. That towhich we are accustomed, however grand, becomes commonplace; we covetand require novelty to quicken the observation. Were the sun to rise butonce a year, in place of three hundred and sixty-five times every twelvemonths, we would willingly travel thousands of miles, if it werenecessary, to witness the glorious phenomenon. The most charming naturalobjects please us in proportion to their rarity or our unfamiliaritywith them.

CHAPTER XI.

Port of Santos.—Yellow FeverScourge.—Down the Coast to Montevideo.—TheCathedral.—Pamperos.—Domestic Architecture.—A GrandThoroughfare.—City Institutions.—CommercialAdvantages.—The Opera House.—The Bull-Fight.—Beggarson Horseback.—City Shops.—A TypicalCharacter.—Intoxication.—The CampoSanto.—Exports.—Rivers and Railways.

Santos is the name of a commercially important harborsituated on the east coast of South America about three hundred milessouthwest of Rio Janeiro, after which city it is the greatest exportharbor for coffee in Brazil. Otherwise it is about as uninteresting aspot as can be found on the continent. It became a city so late as 1839,and contains some twenty thousand inhabitants. Its annual export ofcoffee will reach an aggregate of two hundred and twenty-five thousandsacks. The bay is surrounded by a succession of hills, and is wellsheltered, except on the southwest. The town is situated on the westside of the harbor, and hugs the shore, many of the houses being builtupon piles. Behind the town to the westward rises a succession ofmountain ranges. The immediately surrounding country is low andmalarial, causing fevers to prevail all the year round. During thepresent season Santos has suffered more seriously from yellow fever thanany other place on the coast in proportion to the number of itsinhabitants. As a commercial port it has no rival in southern Brazil.Santa Catharina, Porto Alegre, and Rio Grande, the three harbors southof Santos, are rendered inaccessible for any but small craft, owing tosandbars at their entrances.

This is the present terminus of the United States and Brazil Mailsteamship route from New York, and notwithstanding its many drawbacks inpoint of sanitary conditions, is yet growing rapidly in commercialimportance. Its wretchedly unhealthy condition causes one to hasten awayto the more elevated country, where St. Paul is situated, and where thetraveler runs little or no risk of contracting yellow fever or malarialaffections 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 São Paulo, St. Paul, contains someninety thousand inhabitants. The province is credited with a million anda half. The city lies just under the tropic of Capricorn, southwest ofRio, about two thousand feet above the level of the sea, upon a highridge, covering an elevated plateau of undulating hills. It enjoys thesunshine of the tropics, modified by the freshness of the temperatezone. It is venerable in years, having been founded in 1554, but itseems to have taken a fresh start of late, as its population has doubledin the last decade. As intimated, it is entirely free from yellow fever,which is so fatal at Santos, and has excellent drinking water, togetherwith good drainage and well paved streets. The city contains some finepublic buildings, and has many handsome adornments, being largelypeopled by North Americans and English; the former prevail in numbersand influence, indeed, it has been called the American city of Brazil.There is also a large Italian colony settled here. St. Paul has a goodsystem of tramways, several Protestant churches, and a number ofeducational and charitable public institutions, together with many ofthe attractions of a much larger capital. Among the popular amusem*nts,the theatre of San José is justly esteemed, and is a well-appointedestablishment in all of its belongings. There are two spacious publicgardens, embellished with grottoes, fountains, choice trees, andflowers, while the private gardens attached to the dwellings arenumerous and tasteful.

In the district round about the city venomous serpents are frequentlymet with, whose bite is as dangerous as that of the rattlesnakes of ournorthern climate. As the land is cleared and cultivated, they naturallyand rapidly disappear. These reptiles fear man, and avoid his vicinityquite as earnestly as human beings avoid them. It is only when they aremolested, trodden upon, or cornered, as it were, that they attack anyone.

The city is connected with Rio Janeiro by a railway, and two otherrailroads run from it far inland. The Rio and St. Paul railway is fairlyequipped, but the roadbed is not properly ballasted, and consequentlyone rides over the route in a cloud of dust, while suffering from theoscillations and jolting of the cars. This railway, however, is one ofthe most successful and profitable in the republic. It is some threehundred miles in length, and passes through a dozen or more tunnels, oneof which is a mile and a half in length. This tunnel required sevenyears' labor before it was passable. There is just now a great "boom" ofland values in and about St. Paul. It is towards this state that thetide of Italian emigration is largely directed, for some reason which wedo not comprehend, but it is probably stimulated by a combined effort tothis effect.

The passage southward from Rio Janeiro or Santos to Montevideooccupies about five days, but a large amount of rough ocean experienceis generally crowded into that brief period, added to which the coastingsteamers are far from affording the ordinary comforts so desirable atsea. Of the food supplied to passengers one does not feel inclined tocomplain, because a person embarking upon these lines does so knowingwhat to expect; but as regards the domestic conveniences and cleanlinessgenerally, there is no excuse for their defective character. We aresorry to say that the class of Portuguese and Spaniards one encounterson 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 be fierce, but itusually goes entirely round the compass at least once or twice duringthe voyage, and is more than liable to wind up, off the mouth of theriver Plate, with a regular and furious pampero. This is a hurricanewind, which is born in the gorges of the Andes, and thence pursuing itscourse over nearly a thousand miles of level pampas, gains speed andpower with every league of progress. The season in which thesehurricanes—for in their fury they deserve to be thusdesignated—prevail, is from March to September, but they areliable to come at any time. The wind is considered by the people ofMontevideo to be wholesome and invigorating, as far as the land isconcerned, but seamen dread it on shipboard, and call it a Plate Riverhurricane. We know of no more disagreeable roadstead than that ofMontevideo, when a pampero is blowing. We have seen ships under thesecirc*mstances, with two anchors down, obliged to resort to the use ofoil on the sea, to prevent themselves from being swamped. Though theinhabitants represent a pampero to be comparatively harmless on theland, yet it does sometimes commit fearful havoc there also, especiallyamong the unprotected herds of wild cattle on the plains, and upon alltrees or plantations which lie in its devastating course. It is truethat it brings with it a bracing and life-giving atmosphere from thesnow-capped Andes far away, and if it could only do so with lessforceful demonstration, it would be a welcome visitor in the heated daysof these regions.

The most direct way to illustrate what these South American pampasare is to compare them to the vast prairies of our Western andSouthwestern States. Any one familiar with those far-reaching,horizon-bounded plains knows what the pampas of the Argentine Republicare like. Beginning near the foothills of the Cordilleras, in their veryshadow, as it were, these smoothed out, level lands extend hundreds ofmiles eastward to the great estuary of the Plate River, on the bordersof the Atlantic Ocean. Though apparently sterile, the soil of thepampas, like the dry, baked land of Australia, only requires irrigationand cultivation to rival the most attractive valleys of Southern Europe.It is believed by scientists that these plains were once covered by abroad inland sea, connected directly with the Atlantic. In their presentcondition these pampas can hardly be called barren, since they giveexcellent grazing for extensive herds of wild cattle, which thrive andfatten upon the abundance of coarse, natural grass, similar to what isknown as bunch grass in Texas and New Mexico. This product ripens andmakes itself into standing hay, retaining its natural vitality andnutritious qualities throughout months of atmospheric exposure. Afterbeing close-cropped by the roving herds of cattle, the bunch grassrenews itself, reproducing in great abundance.

Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, is situated on the remarkableestuary of the Plate River,—Rio de la Plata, or "SilverRiver,"—whose spacious mouth is marked by two capes, Santa Mariaand San Antonio, more than one hundred miles apart. Only a nauticalobservation will show just where the line of ocean ceases and that ofthe estuary begins. The unobservant passenger believes himself stillsailing upon the broad ocean until he finally sights the land on whichthe city stands. The flag of Uruguay flying from variouscrafts—blue and white, in alternate stripes, with a glowing sun inthe upper corner near the staff—indicates the near approach to theland it represents.

On the island of Flores, fifteen miles from Montevideo, there are alighthouse and quarantine station. The island is formed by a rockyupheaval, not over twenty feet above sea level, measuring about a milein length and two or three hundred yards in width. The fierce pamperosrender the navigation of this estuary oftentimes precarious. Whenapproaching the broad river's mouth from the north, sailors know that itis 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 yellowhue to the ocean for a long distance from the coast. This effect is saidto be discernible one hundred miles off the shore, but thirty or fortymiles will perhaps be nearer the truth, and is at the same time astatement answering all legitimate purposes. The tide about the estuaryis mostly governed by the wind, and so up the river, showing noregularity in its rise and fall. The current of the Plate oppositeMontevideo runs at the rate of about three miles an hour. In extent,this ranks as the third great river of the world, draining, with itsaffluents, eight hundred thousand square miles of territory; a mammothbasin, which is only exceeded by those of the Amazon and theMississippi.

The commercial activity of the port is shown by the arrival anddeparture daily of many large steamships, foreign and coastwise. SixtyEuropean steamers are recorded as arriving here monthly, besides anumber from the United States. The maritime business of the port ismostly in the hands of Englishmen, Americans, and Frenchmen. Thenative-born citizen evinces no genius in commercial matters. Thedepartment of the capital is the smallest in the republic, having anarea of only twenty-five square miles, but it is fertile, well woodedand watered, its agricultural interests predominating, which is a mostimportant fact in estimating the stability and pecuniary responsibilityof 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 theestuary, three of its sides fronting the sea, and as its streets arenearly always swept by ocean breezes, it is cool and pleasant even inmidsummer. The land rises gradually as it recedes from the shore, andthen declines to the bed of a small stream which empties into the bay,thus affording a natural surface drainage. Uruguay is a little more thantwelve times as large territorially as the State of Massachusetts, andis divided into thirteen departments. There are over half a millionacres of land under good cultivation in the republic, the principalstaples being wheat and corn. Extreme heat and extreme cold are alikeunknown, the country being within the temperate zone. The mean summertemperature is 71° Fahr., that of autumn 62°, and of spring 60°. Thereare, therefore, but few things which the climate is too hot or too coldto produce, while for the raising of cattle on a large scale it is saidto be the best section of South America, and this forms, we believe, itslargest industry.

In approaching Montevideo from the sea, it is observed that thesurrounding country is quite level, with scarcely a single object tobreak the distant view. Immediately upon landing one realizes that thecity is clean and well built, though it is mostly made up of lowstructures one story in height. There are plenty of dwellings of two andthree stories, however, in the more modern part of the town. Dominatingthe whole stand the lofty dome and towers of the cathedral, which facesthe Plaza Constitution. The turrets are of striking proportions, eachrising to the height of one hundred and thirty-three feet. Thewidespread dome would be grand in effect, were it not covered withglazed tiles of various colors, blue, green, yellow, and so on, thecombined effect of which is anything but pleasing to a critical eye.Still, it is no more tawdry than much of the inside finish andmeaningless ornamentation. There is an elaborate marble fountain in thecentre of the plaza, besides some ornamental shrubbery and flowers. Thevery fine marble façade of the building occupied by the Uruguay Clubadds to the beauty of the plaza. Near the fountain is a fanciful musicstand, in which a military band is occasionally stationed to perform forthe public pleasure. These South Americans would as soon give up thebull-fights as the popular outdoor evening concerts, the excellent moraleffect of which no one can possibly doubt.

An abrupt hill at the head of the harbor, four or five hundred feetin height, known as the "Monte," gives the city its name, Montevideo.This hill is crowned by a small fort and lighthouse, the lattercontaining a revolving light which can be seen a long distance at sea. Acouple of miles inland rises another hill called the Cerrito, or "littlehill." Several times during revolutionary struggles, these two hillshave been fortified by opposing parties, who have desired to control thecity, but restless revolutionists are now at a discount, fortunately, inthis republic of Uruguay, a class of uneasy spirits who have reignedquite long enough on the southern continent.

The town is built in the form of an amphitheatre, and hascomparatively few edifices of importance. Its regular, straight streetsand open squares are intensely Spanish. The Paseo del Molino is thefashionable part of the town, where the wealthy merchants reside incurious chalets, or quintas as they are called here. There israther an extraordinary taste displayed in the matter of buildings onthis Paseo. Swiss cottages, Italian villas, Chinese dwellings, andGothic structures are mingled with Spanish and Moorish styles. Thisarchitectural incongruity is not picturesque, but, on the contrary,strikes one as very crude and ill-chosen. The charm of domesticresidences in any part of the globe is a certain adaptability to thenatural surroundings, and is, when well conceived, a graceful part ofthe whole. Inappropriate structures are to the eye like false notes inmusic to the ear, an outrage upon harmony. A Swiss chalet in Hindostan,or a Japanese bamboo house in England, is simply discordancy in scenicconsistency. Nature should always be a silent partner in the creationand adaptation of architectural designs. In olden times the Jesuitsbuilt 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 fruitculture as exists here. The strawberries grown in the neighborhood arefamous for their size and sweetness, the vines producing this favoritefruit all the year round. They are perhaps a little over-developed, andwould doubtless be of finer flavor if they were smaller.

The Plaza de la Independencia is highly attractive, and so is thebroad, tree-lined avenue known as the Calle del Dieziochavo de Julio,named after the anniversary of the Uruguayan declaration ofindependence. This, indeed, is thought to be the most effectiveboulevard in all South America. On festal occasions it is decorated inan original and brilliant manner, having colored draperies hanging fromthe windows and balconies, bright colored cambrics stretched from pointto point, with the gay flag of the republic festooned here and there.Chinese lanterns are hung from the trees, and arches spanning theroadway and bearing national designs are all ablaze with ingeniouslyarranged gas jets. Down one side of this long avenue and up the other,it being over a hundred feet broad, a civic and military processionmarches on the annual recurrence of the date which its name indicates,the several divisions headed by bands of music, with flags flying anddrums beating. On such occasions the windows and balconies are filledwith groups of handsome women, in gala dresses, together with prettychildren in holiday costumes, who add charm and completeness to thescene. This avenue is the Champs Elysées of the southern continent, athoroughfare of which the residents are justly very proud.

The streets and sidewalks generally are of better width in Montevideothan in most of the South American cities. Some few of the privateresidences display fine architectural taste, the dwellings being welladapted to the climate and the surroundings. Many of the city houseshave little towers erected on their roofs, called miradores, fromwhence one gets an excellent view of the entire city and of the sea. Thetown is spread over a large territory, and stretches away into thinlypopulated suburbs, but all parts are rendered accessible by thewell-perfected system of tramways which extend over fifty miles withinthe city and the immediate environs. In the absence of official figures,we should judge that Montevideo had a population of at least two hundredthousand. Every other nationality seems to be represented in its streetsand warehouses, except that of Uruguay herself. Those "native and to themanner born" are conspicuous by their absence. Speaking of this rathercurious characteristic to a friend who lives here, he replied: "Thereare probably fifty thousand European and North American residents doingbusiness in this city, forming by far the most active element of theplace. They are seen everywhere, to the apparent exclusion of thenatives. Indigenous blood and energy could not have made this capitalwhat it is at the present time. It is reaping the advantage of NorthAmerican enterprise, English and American capital, and Germanshrewdness. These, combined with the natural advantages of the locationand climate, will eventually make Montevideo the Liverpool of SouthAmerica." Though all this goes without saying, our friend put it soaptly that his words were deemed worthy of recording. We do not hesitateto predict that the next decade will nearly double the number of thepopulation here, as well as the aggregate of its imports and exports. Noother city on the southern continent has greater advantages in itsgeographical position, or as regards salubrity of climate andadaptability to commerce. Were it not for the occasional visits of thehowling pamperos, the climate would be nearly perfect, and even theseexhibitions of a local nature are, as we have said, accepted with greatequanimity by the people on land. There are few stoves, and nofireplaces or chimneys, in Montevideo. Cooking is done with charcoal onbraziers out-of-doors, as is the custom in most tropical countries.

The capital of Uruguay contains the usual educational and religious,charitable and scientific, public organizations, with appropriateedifices for the same. It should certainly be considered a readingcommunity, having more daily newspapers than London, and double as manyas the city of New York; also supporting a large number of weeklynewspapers and monthly magazines. As to books, so far as a casualobserver may speak, they are few and far between in family circles. Themen read the newspapers, and the women fill up their leisure time withmusic and gossip. There is a national university in Montevideo, whereover six hundred pupils are regularly taught at the present time, andthere are forty-eight professors attached to this admirably organizedinstitution. We heard it highly spoken of by those who should be goodjudges in educational matters. The custom house, with which the strangeralways makes an early acquaintance after arriving in port, is a largeand costly structure, three stories in height. The opera house is worthyof particular mention, being a spacious building of the Doric order,capable of seating three thousand persons, and when it is filled atnight, the interior presents a grand array of elegant costumes andfemale beauty, the ladies of this city being noted for their personalcharms. This is a circ*mstance not mentioned casually as a merecompliment, but simply as a fact. The opera house covers an entiresquare, and has two large wings attached to the main building, one ofwhich is devoted to business purposes, and the other contains theNational Museum. There is here the nucleus of a most valuablecollection, to which constant additions are being made, both by thestate and through personal liberality and interest. We are sorry to sayin this connection that the bull-fight, as a public exhibition, aboveall other styles of amusem*nt, is the favorite one with the rank andfile of the populace, which is quite sufficiently Spanish to control thematter and insure its permanency. The bull-ring, wherein these brutaland terribly demoralizing exhibitions take place on each Sabbathafternoon during the season, is situated about a league from the cityproper.

It must be a country or district under Roman Catholic influence, andwith more or less of a Spanish element permeating it, to admit of thisstyle of desecrating the Sabbath, or, indeed, of indulging on any day ofthe week in an exhibition which is so thoroughly brutal, cowardly, andrepulsive. It is a sad reflection upon the community, high and low, tostate that the bull-fight is one of its popular entertainments. We havesaid that this is a cowardly game. The fact is, the bull is doomed fromthe moment he enters the arena. He has only his horns and his courage tohelp him in the unequal contest. The professional fighters opposed tohim are all fully armed, and protected by sheltering guards, behindwhich they can retire at will. It is twelve experts pitted against onepoor beast. Ingenious, heathenish modes of torture are devised andadopted to wound, to weaken, and to craze the victim. If it was onearmed man against the bull, whether mounted or otherwise, it would be amore equal and gallant struggle,—but twelve to one! bah, it isonly a cowardly game in which gallant horses and brave bulls aresacrificed by a dozen armed men. Even the matadore, who gives the finaland fatal thrust with his sword, and who is looked upon as a sort ofhero by the spectators, does not enter the ring to attempt the act untilthe bull is comparatively harmless, having been worried and woundeduntil he is exhausted by the struggle and the copious loss of blood, sothat he is scarcely able to stand. Though reeling like a drunken man, hestaggers bravely towards his fresh and well-armed enemy, showing fightto the last gasp.

Realize the moral effect of such cut-throat exhibitions upon youth!The older, cruel and hardened spectators are only rendered more so, butthe young and impressionable are then and there inoculated with a loveof brutality and bloodshed, fostered by every fresh exhibition whichthey witness.

The Exchange is a grand and spacious structure, admirably adapted toits purpose, being one of the finest business edifices in South America,to our mind infinitely superior in all respects to that of Rio, uponwhich so much money has been expended in meretricious designs. Theauthor counted the names of some forty charitable institutions andassociations in a Montevideo directory, eight or ten of which aremaintained mostly by public endowment, such as hospitals, asylums forthe poor, orphanages, industrial schools, lunatic asylums, and so on.Near the Plaza Ramirez there is a school of arts and trades, which atthis writing accommodates a large body of pupils, taught by competentprofessors and experts. We were told that this institution was of greatpractical service in the cause of education, its general aim beingsimilar to that of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One washardly prepared to credit Montevideo with so many and well-sustainededucational purposes as she was found to be justly entitled to. Thereader will observe that we speak qualifiedly of these matters; it isonly the outward and most obvious characteristics of a city, so brieflyvisited, of which one can speak correctly. It would have been gratifyingto have remained longer in this capital, to understand more clearly theeducational advantages which are offered here. In this department ofprogress, Montevideo seems in advance of many larger cities.

Squads of soldiers are seen lounging about the town, dressed in auniform of the Zouave pattern, not very jaunty looking fellows, it mustbe confessed, but perhaps "as good food for powder as a better." Theentire army of Uruguay consists of only five thousand men, of allbranches. The president has also a battalion of body-guards, consistingof three or four hundred men, forming a very efficient as well asornamental organization. This organization consists of men loyal to theadministration, and beyond a doubt personally devoted to the president.The rank and file of the army embraces all shades of color, both as tomind and body, and is liable to become disaffected at the outbreak ofany popular upheaval, or through the influence of designing men. Thisbody-guard, however, being always on duty, is ready and able to turn thescale by prompt and consistent action, in favor of the establishedauthorities, and thus nip rebellion in the bud. It is only after gettingthoroughly under way that revolutionary attempts become formidable. Atthe inception, the strong arm promptly applied stamps out the life andcourage of the mob, and renders sedition futile. "No parleying; firepromptly, and fire to kill; that ends the matter," said Napoleon. Blankcartridges and vacillation stimulate a half-formed purpose intoaction.

One is forced to admit that beggars are rather numerous inMontevideo,—beggars on horseback and wearing spurs. They coollystop their small, wiry, half-fed ponies, and with magnificent effronterybeg of any stranger they chance to meet for a centavo, a copper coinworth about two cents of our American money. The incongruity of beggarsmounted, while the stranger of whom they solicit alms is a pedestrian,is somewhat obvious. It must be remembered, however, that horses arevery cheap in this country, and that nearly every one rides or drives. Agood serviceable animal can be bought in any of the South Americancities at what we should consider a mere trifle to pay for one. Awell-broken young saddle-horse will bring from twenty to twenty-fivedollars, but the owner, if one of the dudes about town, will expend fivehundred dollars upon a silver-decked saddle, bridle, and trimmings, aSpanish peculiarity which is also observed in the city of Mexico. A pairof well-matched carriage-horses, in good condition, can be had forseventy-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 abeggar to set up business here requires some capital, but not much. DeQuincey would describe Spanish beggary as having become elevated to oneof the fine arts.

There is a class of men in Uruguay called gauchos who devotethemselves to breaking the wild horses of the pampas for domestic use.They are more Indian than Spanish, and pass their lives mostly asherdsmen of the vast numbers of animals which live in a semi-wild stateupon the plains of South America. These men can hardly be said to traintheir horses. They only conquer them by a process of cruel disciplinewhich thoroughly subdues the animal. After this the poor creatures areever on the alert to obey their rider's will, prompted by a pressure ofthe powerful bit, and a merciless thrust of the long, sharp rowels. Thegaucho reminds one of the cowboys of our Western States. He forms a verypicturesque figure when seen upon his wiry little mustang, gallopingalong with his yellow poncho streaming behind him, his head covered by abroad-brimmed soft felt hat, his long, dark hair floating upon thebreeze, and his broad, loose trousers fluttering in the wind. A lasso ofbraided or twisted leather sometimes swings from one hand, while therider skillfully manages his horse with the other. Altogether the gauchoforms a picture of strong vitality and vivid color. He spends a smallfortune upon his equipments, and his heavy spurs are of solid silver. Heis not a hard drinker, an occasional glass of country wine satisfieshim; but he will gamble all night long until he has lost his last pennyto professional sportsmen, who somehow know the way to win by fair meansor foul.

Few strangers who visit Montevideo for the first time will be at allprepared to see such a quantity and variety of rich jewelry in theshops. Imported dress goods of the finest quality are also offered forsale in these shops. The Parisian boulevards have no display windowswhich contain larger or finer diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds; indeed,this country seems to be the home of precious stones and real gems. Thesilversmiths exhibit goods equally artistic and elegant. The bestproducts of Vienna, Paris, and London, in the fancy-goods line, arefully represented here. Readers who have visited Genoa will recall thefine silver filigree-work which is a specialty of that city, but some ofthe manufactures of this character made here are quite equal, if they donot excel, that of the Italian capital.

It seemed to be rather a singular and significant fact, that when acouple of pennies will purchase a tumblerful of the national tipplecalled caña, a raw liquor made from sugar-cane, and quite as strong asbrandy, still comparatively few persons are seen under its influenceupon the public streets. It is true that on all church festal occasionsthe common people have a regular carousal, and get very muchintoxicated, whereupon they lose one day in repenting and two inrecuperation. It is the same all over the world. The lower, uneducatedclasses, having no intellectual resort, seem imbued with the idea thatto get thoroughly tipsy is the acme of pleasure. The inevitablepunishment does not enter into the calculation at all, nor does it deterthe victim from repeated excesses. It is curious to observe the peculiareffect which intoxicants produce upon people of different nationalities:the Russian gets boozy on vodka, and only becomes more loving to hisspecies; the Mexican drinks pulque by the pint measure, and craves onlyto be permitted to sleep; the French guzzle brandy and wine until theybecome equally full of song and gayety; the American Indian is madeutterly crazy and reckless by drink; the Irishman finds a fight in everyglass of whiskey; and the Englishman who indulges overmuch becomeseloquent on politics and patriotism. In South America the common peoplewho drink to excess are rendered pugnacious and revolutionary. Thepolice arrangements of Montevideo are excellent, and the streets aresafe for man or woman at any hour of the day or night, which one isforced to admit is more than can be truthfully said of the majority oflarge cities in either Europe or North America. There is no sicklysentimentality about crime and criminals here. If a man outrages thelaw, he has to suffer for it, and there is no pardoning him until he hasworked out his entire penalty. It is the certainty of punishment whichintimidates professional rascals. Official leniency and pardoning ofcriminals 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 skill, forming a popularpleasure resort. There are here many fine native and exotic trees, aswell as flowering shrubs and blooming flowers. This spacious park,intersected by a willow-lined stream, is called the Paseo, and isornamented with statues, fountains, and rockeries. The grounds are alsooccupied by several small places devoted to amusem*nts,shooting-galleries, billiard saloons, and gambling tables, very similarto the Deer Garden in the environs of Copenhagen. Citizens of Montevideoof the humbler class come hither with their families, bringing food anddrink to be disposed of in picnic fashion. Bordering the sweep of thebay, which forms the harbor, are many cottages, the homes of the richmerchants. These villas are surrounded by flower gardens and gracefulshrubbery, the endless spring climate making the bloom perennial. Theflat roofs of many of the town houses are partially inclosed, so as toform a pleasant resort in the closing hours of the day, where familyparties are often seen gathered together. Social life among theresidents of the environs is very gay, and so indeed is that of the townresidents, whose hospitality is also proverbial. The Hotel Oriental isthe 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 domestic purposes in thecity, is brought by a well-engineered system from the river Santa Lucia,which is tapped for this purpose at a distance of thirty or forty milesfrom Montevideo.

The Campo Santo of the capital is admirably arranged and particularlywell kept, being in several respects like those of Pisa, Genoa, andother Italian cities. It is the most elaborate cemetery in SouthAmerica, surrounded by high walls so built as to contain five tiers ofniches which form the receptacles for the dead. The grounds are nearlyas crowded with elaborate tombs and stone monuments as Père la Chaise,at Paris, the funereal cypress rising here and there in statelymournfulness above the marble slabs. The abundance of metallic wreathsand artificial flowers afforded another resemblance to the famous Frenchcemetery. The freshness of many of the floral offerings showed that thememory of the departed was kept green in the hearts of those leftbehind. The traveler sees many such touching evidences of tenderness allover the world. Much of the marble work seen in these grounds wasimported from Milan, and some from both Florence and Rome. Themonumental entrance to the grounds, and the elaborate chapel withinthem, are both in good taste.

Beef, hides, wool, hair, and grain seem to be the principal articlesof export. Uruguay contains over half a million of people, and has anarea of seventy-one thousand square miles, intersected by severalrailways, bringing the interior within easy reach of the capital. It issaid to be growing more rapidly in proportion to its size and thepresent number of inhabitants than any other part of South America. Therepublic is best known to the world by its Indian name, Uruguay, but onmany maps it is still designated as the Banda Oriental, that is, the"Eastern Border." It will be remembered that this now independent statewas originally a part of the Argentine Republic, which was formerlyknown by that designation. Though Uruguay is one of the smallest of theindependent divisions of the continent, it is yet one of the mostimportant, a fact owing largely to its admirable commercial location.Nearly all of its territory can be reached by navigable rivers, whileits Atlantic shore has a dozen good harbors. Sixteen large riversintersect the republic in various directions, all of which have theirseveral tributaries. Cheap internal transportation is assured by overthree hundred miles of railways; also by these rivers. As alreadyintimated, its agricultural interests are largely on the increase, thestrongest element of permanency. Originally the pastoral interestprevailed over all other, but agriculture, both here and in theArgentine Republic, has taken precedence. The model farms nearMontevideo are unsurpassed for extent, completeness, and the liberalmanner in which they are conducted. Some large estates might be namedwhich will compare favorably with anything of the sort which the authorhas ever seen in any country, where agriculture is followed onintelligent principles. Here the cultivation of the soil is carried onnot solely to obtain all which can be wrung from it, in the way ofpecuniary profit, but con amore, and with a due regard to system.As may be supposed, the return is fully commensurate with theintelligence and liberality exercised in the business. Such farming maybe and is called fancy farming, but it is a sort which pays mostliberally, and which affords those engaged in it the mostsatisfaction.

To be an honest chronicler, one must not hesitate to look at allphases of progress, successful or otherwise, on the part of each peopleand country visited and written about. There are always deep-lyinginfluences acting for good or evil, which scarcely present themselves tothe thoughtless observer.

One reason for the rapid growth of this republic of Uruguay isbecause of its gradually casting off the slough of Roman Catholicinfluence, a species of dry rot quite sufficient to bring about thedestruction of any government. The same incubus which was of so longstanding in Mexico, where its effect kept the people in ignorance andferment for centuries, has at last been abolished, and modern progressnaturally follows. In Uruguay the Romish Church has lost its prestige,having hastened its own downfall by blindly striving to enforcefifteenth century ideas upon people of the nineteenth. Monks and nunshave been expelled, and parish schools have been closed. Free schoolsnow prevail, and general knowledge is becoming broadcast, which simplymeans destruction to all popish control. Intelligence is the antidotefor bigotry, which explains the bitter opposition of the Roman Catholicpriesthood to free schools wherever their faith prevails.

In all of these South American provinces it has been found difficultto throw off the evil inheritance of sloth and anarchy which theSpaniards imposed upon their colonial possessions. The schoolhouse isthe true temple of liberty for this people. In the department ofMontevideo alone there are to-day over sixty free schools, and in thewhole republic nearly four hundred, something for her authorities topoint at with a spirit of just pride. This enumeration does not includethe private schools, of which there are also a large number in thecapital.

We find by published statistics that Uruguay exports of wool, aboutseven million dollars' worth per annum; of beef, over six milliondollars' worth; of hides, four million dollars' worth; and of wheatabout the same amount in value as that of the last article named. Thesestaples, however, are only representative articles, to which many moremight be added, to show her growing commercial importance and assuredprosperity.

Our next stopping-place is the important city of Buenos Ayres, on theopposite bank of the river, about one hundred and fifty miles southwestof Montevideo.

CHAPTER XII.

Buenos Ayres.—Extent of the ArgentineRepublic.—Population.—Narrow Streets.—Large PublicSquares.—Basques.—Poor Harbor.—RailwaySystem.—River Navigation.—Tramways.—TheCathedral.—Normal Schools.—Newspapers.—PublicBuildings.—Calle Florida.—A Busy City.—Mode offurnishing Milk.—Environs.—Commercial and PoliticalGrowth.—The New Capital.

The city of Buenos Ayres—"Good Air"—is wellnamed so far as its natural situation is concerned, but this conditionof a pure atmosphere has been seriously affected by unsanitaryconditions, naturally arising from the large influx of a verypromiscuous population. A considerable percentage are Italians, and sofar as personal cleanliness and decency go, they seem to be among thelost arts with them.

This thriving city is the capital of the Argentine Republic, which,next to Brazil, is the largest independent state in South America,containing fourteen provinces, each of which has its own localgovernment, modeled after those of the United States. The average readerwill doubtless be surprised, as the author certainly was, to realizethat this southern republic exceeds in extent of territory the unitedkingdoms of Great Britain, together with France, Germany, Austria,Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, and Greece combined,the actual area being something over twelve hundred thousand squaremiles. The province of Buenos Ayres is just about the size of the Stateof New York, and contains in round numbers a population of one million.Two hundred years ago, the city of Buenos Ayres had a population of fivehundred. Having the statistics at hand, it is perhaps worth while tostate that, of the aggregate population of the province, a majority, orfully six hundred thousand, are foreigners, classed as follows: threehundred thousand Italians, one hundred and fifty thousand French, onehundred thousand Spaniards, forty thousand English, and twenty thousandGermans. The number of North American residents is very small, thoughthey control a fair percentage of the exports and imports. Authenticstatistics show that they number less than six hundred. Paris is notmore crowded with refugees from various countries than is this Argentinecapital. Why such a spot was selected on which to establish a commercialcity is an unsolved riddle, as it embraces about all the naturalinconveniences that could possibly be encountered on the banks of alarge river. The perversity of such a selection is the more obvious,because those who made it must have passed by a score of admirablepoints eminently superior in all respects to the one now occupied.

The first view of Buenos Ayres on approaching it by water ispeculiar, the line of sight being only broken by the church towers and afew prominent public buildings; the horizon alone forms the backgroundof the picture. Unlike nearly all of the South American cities, there isno forest or mountain range behind or surrounding the capital. From itsenvirons a continuous plain stretches away for nearly eight hundredmiles to the foothills of the Andes. Situated between the 34° and 35° ofsouth latitude, it enjoys a climate similar to that of the south ofFrance, and almost identical with that of New Orleans. The site uponwhich the city stands is considerably above the level of the river, andthough the streets are far too narrow for business purposes in the olderportions 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 walkor drive over them. Boulevards are laid out to cut the older parts ofthe city diagonally, as was done in Paris and Genoa, and is now beingdone in Florence, so as to relieve the present insufficient capacity forthe transportation of merchandise. One is apt, however, when remarkingupon these particularly narrow and irregular streets in a foreigncountry, to forget that there are, in the older portions of the capitalof Massachusetts, some quite as circ*mscribed and corkscrew fashioned.If we do not find all the excellences of civilization predominating, andadmirable people in the majority here, we should do well to rememberthat we have also left them in the minority at home.

The huge custom house of Buenos Ayres, with its circular form andhigh walls facing the river, recalls in general appearance Castle Gardenin New York harbor, or the fort on Governor's Island. In its importanceas a commercial emporium, this city disputes the first place with onlythree others in the southern hemisphere, namely, Rio Janeiro, Sydney,and Melbourne, the latter of which has lately added greatly to itsharbor facilities by deepening and widening the Yarra-Yarra River.

The dwelling-houses of Buenos Ayres are mostly built of brick, andare of a far more substantial character than those upon the west coastof the continent. They have much more the appearance of North Americandwellings than Spanish, except that the windows are strongly guardedwith iron bars, and the cool, shady patios present domestic scenes,mingled with flowers and fragrance, strongly local in color. The city isregularly laid out in squares of a hundred and fifty yards each, so whenone is told that such or such a place is so many squares away, he knowsexactly the distance which is indicated. The Plaza de la Victoria issurrounded by handsome edifices, including the opera house and thecathedral, the façade of the latter very much resembling that of theMadeleine at Paris. This square has a fine equestrian statue of somepatriot, and a small column commemorating a national event. The city hasa population equaling that of Boston in number, and we do not hesitateto say that it is more noted for its enterprise and general progressthan any other of the South American cities. It has been appropriatelycalled the Chicago of the southern continent. The republic, of which itis the principal city, has seven thousand miles of telegraphic wirewithin its area, a tangible evidence of enterprise which requires nocomment. One remarkable line connects this city with that of Valparaiso,on the Pacific side of the continent, and is constructed with iron polesnearly the whole distance, crossing the Andes by means of forty miles ofcable laid beneath the perpetual snows!

It may well be supposed that the inhabitants of Buenos Ayres are of acosmopolitan character, when it is known that the daily newspapers areissued in five different languages. As shown by the statistics alreadygiven, a considerable share of the people are Italians, who form muchthe larger portion of the emigrants now coming hither from Europe, orwho have arrived here during the last decade. As additions to thepopulation, they form a more desirable class, in many respects, thanthose who seek homes further north. After the Italians, the Basques areamong the most numerous of the new-comers. There are over fifty thousandof this people settled in the province of Buenos Ayres alone, readilyadapting themselves to the country. They are a strongly individualizedrace, whom no one is liable to mistake for any other. They maintain in agreat measure the picturesque style of dress which prevails in theirnative land, no matter what their vocation may be here. As a rule, theBasques come with their families, bringing some moderate amount ofpecuniary means with them, and at once devote themselves to agriculturalpursuits. They take especially to the department of the dairy, makingbutter and cheese of excellent quality, for which they find a ready citymarket. They have a natural inclination towards cattle tending, and arelooked upon by the authorities as among the very best of Europeanemigrants. To promote this immigration to Argentina, a per capitapremium has been paid heretofore by the government, who, indeed, arestill ready to furnish a free passage for responsible emigrants, both ofthis and other nationalities. This generous offer has been so shamefullyabused by the beggars, lazzaroni, and criminal classes of Naples andSicily, that a check has necessarily been put upon it, particularly asregards the generally objectionable people of Sicily.

As a shipping port, Montevideo has a decided advantage over thisArgentine metropolis. Large steamers are obliged to anchor eight or tenmiles, or even more, below the city, on account of the shallowness ofthe river at this point. A channel has been opened to facilitate theapproach of vessels of moderate tonnage, but much yet remains to be donebefore the experiment will be of any practical advantage. Tugboats landpassengers on the quay, who arrive by the large mail steamers. Vesselsof not over twenty-five hundred tons can lie at the shore and land theircargoes by means of the limited conveniences of the new dock. One wouldthink that this want of harbor facilities was an insuperable objectionand impediment in the growth of a great commercial capital, but BuenosAyres goes straight onward, progressing in wealth and business,apparently regardless of such disadvantages. The present aggregate ofits imports, in round numbers, is one hundred million dollars perannum.

Even to-day, while resting under so serious a financial cloud, withher credit at the lowest ebb, and so many of her lately wealthymerchants in bankruptcy, the city has a certain steady, normal growth,which it would appear that nothing can seriously impair. As we haveintimated, the tide of immigration has been checked, though not entirelystopped, by the depressed financial and business condition of thecountry; still, in one closing month of the last year, October, 1891,over two thousand passengers arrived by steamship in Argentina, seekingnew and permanent homes.

When a pampero is blowing, it sometimes forces nearly all of thewater out of the harbor, leaving it high and dry, so to speak, thoughthe river is thirty miles in width opposite Buenos Ayres. Passengers,baggage, and freight have in the past often been landed by means ofhorse carts, hung on high wheels, and driven out into the water to sucha depth as would float small boats and lighters. Indeed, this was formany years the common mode of landing freight and passengers at BuenosAyres. Two long and narrow piers which have been built partially obviatethe necessity of employing carts, unless the water becomes very low. Ithas been said in all seriousness, and we believe it to be true, that thecost of landing a cargo of merchandise at Buenos Ayres has often been asgreat as the freight by vessel from New York, Liverpool, or Boston.

To construct a suitable harbor here for commercial purposes is aproject attended by almost insurmountable difficulties, but the attemptis gradually being made. The water in front of the city is not onlyshallow, but the bottom is extremely hard, while the increase of depthdown the river is so little that it would involve the dredging of soilfor a distance of ten miles, together with an indefinite width. It isvery doubtful if a channel in such a situation, liable to constantchanges, 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 itwill always be the commercial capital. It is already a great railwaycentre, the republic having over seven thousand miles of iron and steelrails within its borders. Five railways radiate from Buenos Ayres atthis writing, and a sixth is projected. One route has been surveyed withthe idea of connecting this city direct with Valparaiso, the distancebetween the two capitals being about nine hundred miles. It is designedto take advantage of the road already completed to Mendoza, from whencethe addition would cross the Cordilleras at a height of ten thousandfeet, and pass through several tunnels, one of which would be two mileslong.

It should also be remembered, while on this subject of transportationfacilities, that the Paraná River is navigable for light draughtsteamers two thousand miles inland from Buenos Ayres, into and throughone of the most productive valleys in the world. From Montevideo toPoint Piedras, the river is uniformly sixty miles wide, and at BuenosAyres it has only narrowed to about half this distance. The two mainrivers which form the Plate are the Uruguay and the Paraná, which inturn unite to form the grand estuary called Rio de la Plata.

The city of Buenos Ayres has about as many miles of tramway as thereare in Boston. The various routes are well managed, and afford aninfinite amount of popular accommodation. This service is carried on bysix different companies. It is not in the hands of one big monopoly, aswith us in Boston. Competition in undoubtedly best for the public good,but the business can be more advantageously conducted by a singlecompany. Experience has shown, however, that such a franchise is liableto great abuse in the hands of a corporation having no rivalry tofear.

The citizens suffered long and patiently for want of good water fordrinking and domestic purposes. This trouble has been partially obviatedfor a considerable time by the establishment of extensive water-works,but they are not adequate to the demand. The means for obtaining a newand additional supply are now under consideration. A system of drainagehas also been constructed, which was fully as much of a necessity as thesupply of water, but which, as usual, proves to be insufficient incapacity to perform the necessary work,—at least it but partiallymeets the requirements for which it was designed. People grow hardenedby association with danger, but the importance of good and sufficientdrainage for a capital in which malarial fevers prevail hardly requiresargument.

Unlike nearly all of the South American cities, Buenos Ayres has noPlaza Mayor, or public square, as a grand business and pleasure resort,a central point, par excellence, designed also for the recreation of thegeneral public. There are, however, several spacious squares, quitelarge enough to represent such an idea,—nine or ten of them infact, all of which are surrounded by fine buildings. The Plaza Victoria,for instance, already referred to, is some eight acres in extent, madebrilliant at night by electric lights, which supplement the old style ofgas-burners. The government house, the Palace of Justice, the cathedral,and other effective buildings front upon the Plaza Victoria. Eight orten of the principal streets converge here, and this point is also theplace of departure for several lines of tram-cars. The cathedral is inthe Grecian style, the portico supported by twelve Corinthian columns,composed of brick, mortar, and stucco, but the general effect is thesame as though each pillar was a monolith. The edifice is capable ofcontaining eight or ten thousand people at a time, being equal in sizeand architectural effect to any ecclesiastical establishment on thecontinent. As this cathedral is a very remarkable one in many respects,we devote more than usual space to its description. It was rebuilt bythe Jesuits in the seventeenth century, but was originally founded in1580, and is not much inferior to St. Paul's, London, as the followingdimensions will show. It is two hundred and seventy feet long by onehundred and fifty in width, having an area of forty-five hundred squarerods, and stands next in size to Notre Dame, Paris. The interior of thisimmense building, with its twelve side chapels, is dark, dingy, anddirty, while the want of ventilation renders the air within foul andoffensive. It is only on some rare festal occasions that an audience atall adequate to occupy its great capacity is seen within its walls. Ahundred persons do not seem like more than a dozen in such a place. Lessthan a thousand only serve to emphasize its loneliness. One sees a fewwomen, but scarcely any men, present on ordinary occasions. The latterare content to stand about the outer doors and watch the former whenthey come from morning mass, or the ordinary Sabbath services. Here, asin Havana, Seville, and Madrid, the Spanish ladies, who lead a secludedhome life, under a half oriental restraint imposed by custom inheritedfrom the ancient Moorish rule in continental Spain, do not resent beingstared at when in the streets. Probably this is the main attractionwhich draws most of the señors and señoritas to the church services,though undoubtedly many of them are devout and sincere in the outwardservices which they perform. At least, let us give them the benefit ofsuch a conclusion.

The national religion of Argentina is that of the Roman CatholicChurch, but the power of the priesthood is strictly confined toecclesiastical affairs, as in Uruguay. Absolute religious freedom may besaid to exist here. No religious processions or church parades arepermitted in the public streets. This used to be very different in timespast, almost every other day in the Romish calendar being some saint'sday, and it was the custom to make the most of these occasions byelaborate parades and gorgeous display. Besides some twenty-four RomanCatholic churches and chapels, there are a score presided over byProtestants of various denominations,—Episcopal, Presbyterian,Lutheran, Methodist, and so on. There is, as we were informed, a largeand growing Protestant constituency in the city.

It should be mentioned very much to her credit that Buenos Ayres hassupported, since 1872, a series of normal schools, in which regularcourses of three years' training are given to persons desiring to fitthemselves to become school-teachers. To assist those wishing to availthemselves of these advantages, the government appropriates a certainsum of money, and those persons who receive this public aid bindthemselves, in consideration of the same, to teach on specific terms inthe free schools for a period of three years. There are quite a numberof North American ladies employed in these schools, throughout theseveral districts of Argentina, receiving a liberal compensationtherefor, and commanding a high degree of respect. The University ofBuenos Ayres, with about fifty professors and some eight hundredstudents, stands at the head of the national system of education. It wasfounded in 1821, having classical, law, medical, and physicaldepartments. There are also four military schools, two for the army andtwo for the navy.

Buenos Ayres has more daily papers published within its precinctsthan either Boston or New York. It has several elegant marble structuresdevoted to the banking business, generally holding large capitals,though the financial condition of several of them at this writing issimply that of bankruptcy. This applies mainly to the state banks. Thereare here an orphanage, a deaf and dumb asylum, four public hospitals,and two libraries: the National Library containing some seventy thousandvolumes, the Popular Library having fifty thousand. There is also a freeart school, together with public and private schools of all grades. Lastto be named, but by no means least in importance, the city has a numberof fairly good hotels and restaurants, the latter much superior to theformer. Hotels are not only a strong indication of the social refinementof a people, or of the want of it, but they are of great importance asregards the commercial prosperity of a large community. Travelers whoare made comfortable in these temporary homes remain longer in a citythan they would otherwise, spend more money there, and are apt to comeagain. If, on the contrary, the hotel accommodations are poor, travelerscomplain of them, and strangers avoid a city where they are liable to berendered needlessly uncomfortable in this respect. Rio Janeiro is anotable instance in hand, a city whose hotels we conscientiously advisethe traveler to avoid.

We well remember, at the great caravansary in Calcutta, the onlyhotel there of any size or pretension, that a party of five Englishmenand five Americans, who had come from Madras with the purpose of passinga fortnight in the former city, shortened their stay one half, simplybecause the hotel was so wretchedly kept, the accommodations were soabominably poor, and the discomforts so numerous. Let us put this ideain mercenary form. Ten guests, expending at least eight dollars each perday, curtailed their visit seven days. It is safe to say that they wouldhave left six hundred dollars more in Calcutta had they been comfortablylodged, than they did under the circ*mstances.

We should not omit to mention the Commercial Exchange, in speaking ofthe public buildings of Buenos Ayres. It is a fine, large, modernstructure, admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.Until within a year, the edifice in Boston applied to the same purposewould 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 tobe in any special hurry. Everything is done in a leisurely manner. Thenumber of handsome stores and the elegance of the goods displayed inthem are remarkable, while the annual amount of sales in theseestablishments rivals that of some of our most popular New York andBoston concerns in similar lines of business. One may count fortyfirst-class jewelry establishments in a short walk about town. There ishardly a more attractive display in this line either in Paris or London.Diamonds and precious stones of all descriptions dazzle the eye andcaptivate the fancy. The Calle Florida is one of the most fashionablethoroughfares, and presents in the afterpart of the day a very gay andstriking picture of local life, a large element being composed ofhandsome women, attended by gayly dressed nurses, in charge of lovelychildren wearing fancy costumes. The young boys affect naval styles, andtheir little sisters wear marvelously broad Roman scarfs, and have theirfeet encased in dainty buff slippers. What pleasing domestic picturesthey suggest to the eye of a restless wanderer!

On account of the narrowness of the streets, there is but one line ofrails 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. Thesecars 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 morninguntil night, and the citizens are liberal patrons of them. We saw somestatistics relating to the number of persons carried by the tramways ofthis city annually, which were simply amazing, and which would make themanagement of the West End Railway of Boston "grow green with jealousy,or pallid with despair." Of course all this has been temporarilyaffected by the present financial crisis. As we have tried to show,Buenos Ayres is a wonderfully busy city, in which respect it resemblesour own country much more than it does the average capitals of thesouth. There is none of the visible languor and spirit of delay whichusually strikes one in tropical centres. People get up in the morningwide awake, and go promptly to business. There is no closing of theshops at midday here, as there is in Havana, Santiago, the capital ofChili, or some of the Mexican cities, so that clerks may absentthemselves for dinner or to enjoy a siesta. A much more convenientcourse for both clerks and patrons is adopted, which does not block thewheels of trade. The idea of closing stores at midday to steal a coupleof hours for eating and sleeping is a bit of Rip Van Winkleism entirelyunworthy of the go-ahead spirit of the nineteenth century.

The Plaza Retiro is as large as the Plaza Victoria, and occupies thespot where in old Spanish days the hateful exhibitions of thebull-fights were given. Indeed, this square was formerly known as thePlaza de Toros. Many historical interests hang about the locality,around which the rich merchants of the city have erected some palatialresidences, faced to a certain height with marble on the outside. Thesedomestic retreats have courtyards constructed one beyond another,covering a considerable depth, and forming a series of patios, eachappropriated to some special domestic use,—the dining court, thereception court, and the nursery. In this square, and also in the PlazaVictoria, there are always plenty of hackney coaches to be foundawaiting hire, and it should be remarked that charges are veryreasonable for this service in Buenos Ayres.

There are thirteen theatres in the city, and an admirable museum. Thelatter, rich in antiquities, is noted for its prehistoric remains ofanimals which once lived in the southern part of this continent, butwhose species have long been extinct. This particular museum isadvantageously known to scientists all over the world. The Colon Theatreis a large, well-equipped, and imposing place of entertainment, as muchso as the Théâtre Française, Paris, and takes a high position inrepresentations of the legitimate drama and the production of the betterspectacular plays. This house adopts what is called here thecazuela 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 second tier of boxes or seats to theexclusive use of unattended ladies, an arrangement which seemed to usstrongly to recommend itself. To this division of the auditorium thereis a separate entrance from the street, and no gentlemen are admittedunder any pretext whatever. So those who desire to come to theentertainments quite unattended can do so with perfect propriety, andare safe from all intrusion in this isolated position. The ladies ofthis city, when they appear in public, dress very elegantly, followingclosely North American and European styles, while displaying thechoicest imported materials well made up. Perhaps comparisons areinvidious, but we feel inclined to accord precedence in the matter ofpersonal beauty to those of Montevideo. In dress, however, the ladies ofBuenos Ayres certainly excel them. Each city has its local "Worth," butmany dresses are made in Paris and imported, regardless of expense.

There may be somewhere a noisier city than Buenos Ayres, as regardsstreet life in the business section, but London or New York cannot rivalit in this respect. Undoubtedly this is owing in a measure to the factthat the traffic of so large and busy a metropolis is crowded into suchnarrow thoroughfares, barely thirty feet in width, and often less thanthat, a portion of which space is taken up by the tramway tracks. Thenoisy vehicles which run on these rails make their full share of theracket and hubbub. Here, as in the cities of Mexico and Puebla, thedrivers of the cars are supplied each with a tin horn, hung about hisneck, or suspended from the car front, upon which he exercises hislungs, producing ear-piercing and discordant notes. Wheels and hoofsupon the uneven pavements increase the din, supplemented by shouts andlanguage more forcible than proper, uttered by enraged teamsters becauseof the frequent blocking of the roadway. Add to these dulcet sounds thecries of itinerant fruit venders, fancy-goods sellers, and the shouts ofpersistent newsboys, and one has some idea of the irritating uproarwhich rages all day long in the older streets of Buenos Ayres.

Cows and mares are driven singly or in groups through the streets ofthis city, and milked at the customers' doors, so that one is nearlycertain of getting the genuine article in this line, though we wereassured that some roguish dealers carry an india-rubber tube and flatbag under their clothing from which they slyly extract a portion ofwater to "extend" the lacteal fluid. "Is there no honesty extant?"Adulteration seems to have become an instinct of trade. Asses are stilldriven through the streets of Paris, in the early mornings, and the milkobtained from them is distributed in the same manner, whether with aslight adulteration of water or not, we are unable to say. It is notuncommon at Buenos Ayres to see a person served on the street with freshmilk just drawn from the animal, which he drinks on the spot. A veryrefreshing, modest, and nutritious morning tipple. Mares, as beforementioned, are not used for working or riding in this country, but arekept solely for breeding purposes and to furnish milk. This article isconsidered to be more nourishing for invalids and children than cow'smilk, and is often prescribed as a regular diet by the physicians.

The grand driving park of the capital, known by the name of Third ofFebruary, is situated at Palermo, some distance from the city proper,and covers between eight and nine hundred acres. On certain days,especially on Sundays, a military band gives a public outdoor concerthere, when all the beauty and fashion of the city turn out in gayequipages to see and to be seen, forming also a grand and spiritedcavalcade 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 uniting to produce splendid agricultural results.The suburbs of Flores and Belgrano each present a very pretty group ofquintas and gardens, wherein great skill and refinement of taste isevinced. The alfalfa, a species of clover used here in a green conditionas fodder for cattle, and which is as rich as the red clover of NewEngland, to which family of grasses it belongs, grows so rapidly andripens so promptly that three crops are often realized from the samefield in a single season. The immediate environs of the city areoccupied by private residences, many of which are very elaborate andimposing, surrounded by charming gardens and pleasure grounds. Grottoes,statuary, and fountains abound, while orchards of various fruits arecommon, interspersed here and there with picturesque graperies. Some ofthe highways are guarded by hedges ofcactus,—agave,—much more impenetrable than anyartificial fencing. Trees of the eucalyptus family have heretofore beenfavorites here, originally imported from Australia, but they have ceasedto be desirable, since it appears that nothing will grow in theirshadow. They seem to exercise a blighting power on other species ofvegetation. Figs, peaches, and oranges grow side by side, surrounded byother fruits, while the low-lying fields and open meadows nearest to theriver are divided into large squares of three or four acres each,enameled with the deep green of the thick growing alfalfa, and othercrops varying in color after their kind. Richest of all are theintensely yellow fields of ripening wheat still farther inland, whosesoftly undulating surface, gently yielding to the passing breeze,produces long, widespread floating ripples of golden light.

The love of flowers is a passion among all classes of the people, andtheir cultivation as a business by experienced individuals givesprofitable employment to many florists, whose grounds are pictures ofaccumulated beauty, fragrance, and variety of hues. There is as trueharmony to the eye in such blendings as there is to the ear in perfectmusic. The reader may be sure that where the children of Flora so muchabound, bright tinted humming-birds do much more abound, dainty littleliving feathered gems, rivaling rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.

To insure the good health of her large and increasing population, thesystem of drainage in Buenos Ayres requires prompt and effectualtreatment. The natural fall of the ground towards the river is hardlysufficient to second any engineering effort to this end. That typhoidfever should prevail here to the extent which it does, at nearly allseasons of the year, is a terrible reflection upon those in authority.This is a fatal disease which is quite preventable, and in this instanceclearly traceable to obvious causes. Rio Janeiro, with its yellow feverscourge, is hardly more seriously afflicted than Buenos Ayres with itstyphoid malaria. Indeed, it is contended by some persons living on thecoast that the number of deaths per annum in the two cities arising fromthese causes is very nearly equal, taking into account the results ofyear after year. Sometimes, unaccountably, Rio escapes the fever for atwelvemonth, that is to say, some seasons it does not rage as anepidemic; but we fear, if the truth were fairly expressed, it would befound that the seeds are there all the while, and that the city of RioJaneiro, like that of Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico, is neverabsolutely exempt from occasional cases.

The Argentine Republic contains more than a million square miles, asalready stated; indeed, immensity may be said to be one of its mostmanifest characteristics. The plains, the woods, the rivers, arecolossal. To be sure, all of her territory is not, strictly speaking,available land, suitable for agricultural purposes, any more than is thecase in our own wide-spread country. No other nation equals thisrepublic in the value of cattle, compared with the number of thepopulation, not forgetting Australia with its immense sheep and cattleranches. It is believed, nevertheless, that the agricultural interesthere, as in Uruguay, is gradually increasing in such ratio that it willerelong rival the pastoral. The average soil is very similar to that ofour Mississippi valley, yielding a satisfactory succession of cropswithout the aid of any artificial enrichment. The pampas have a mellow,dry soil, the common grass growing in tussocks to the height of three orfour feet, and possessing a perennial vigor which mostly crowds outother vegetation. A few wild flowers are occasionally seen, and in themarshy places lilies of several species are to be met with; but takenall together the flora of the pampas is the poorest of any fertiledistrict with which we are acquainted. A few half-developed herbs andtrefoils occasionally meet the eye, together with small patches of wildverbenas of various colors. At long distances from each other one comesupon areas of tall pampas grass as it is called, so stocky as to bealmost like the bamboo, eight or ten feet high, decked with fleecy,white plumes. Birds are scarce on the pampas. There is a peculiarspecies of hare, besides some animals of the rodent family, resemblingprairie-dogs—biscachos—or overgrown rats, togetherwith an occasional jaguar and puma, found on these plains, as well asthat meanest of all animals, the pestiferous skunk. Animal life, otherthan the herds of wild cattle, can hardly be said to abound on thepampas.

Until a few years since, Buenos Ayres enjoyed the distinction ofbeing the capital of the province of the same name, as also of theArgentine Republic; but the present capital of the province of BuenosAyres, called La Plata, is situated about forty miles south-east ofBuenos Ayres, with which it is connected by railway. The site of the newcapital was an uninhabited wilderness ten years ago, the foundationstone of this city having been laid in 1882. To-day La Plata has apopulation of about fifty thousand, although over seventy are claimedfor it, a comprehensive system of tramways, broad, well paved streets,two theatres, thirty public schools, a national college, and six largehotels. There are many monuments and fountains ornamenting thethoroughfares, and what is now wanting is a population commensurate withthe grand scale on which the capital is designed. An immense cathedralis 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 isfully carried out, it may be half a century or more in course ofconstruction. La Plata is suffering from the pecuniary crisis perhapsmore seriously than any other part of the country. The city is lightedby both electricity and gas, issues five daily newspapers, has a verycomplete astronomical observatory, a public library, five railroadstations, and some very elegant public buildings. Its largepossibilities are by no means improved, however. Of the buildings, theedifice of the provincial legislature, that of the minister of finance,and the legislative palace are all worthy of mention. The governmenthouse is a long, low structure, the front view of which is renderedeffective by an added story in the centre, which projects from the lineof the building, and is supported by high columns. The "Palace," as itis called, forming the residence of the governor of the province, is anelaborate and pretentious building, three stories in height, with twoflanking domes and a dominating one in the centre. Of course La Platahas gained its start and rapid growth from the prestige of being theprovincial capital, but it is now slowly developing a legitimate growthon a sound business basis, and though it can hardly be expected to everequal Buenos Ayres in population and commercial importance, itnevertheless promises to be a prosperous city in the distant future; itscitizens already call it the "Washington" of South America. A closeobserver could not but notice that many houses were unoccupied, and thestreets seemed half deserted.

While the most of our maps and geographies remain pretty much as theywere a score of years ago, and a majority of the kingdoms of the OldWorld have changed scarcely at all, the Argentine Republic has beensteadily growing in population, progressing rapidly in intelligence,constantly extending its commercial relations, and marching all thewhile towards the front rank of modern civilization. A detailedstatement of its extraordinary development during the last twenty years,in commerce, railway connections, schools, agriculture, and generalwealth, would surprise the most intelligent reader. It is believed byexperienced and conservative people, particularly those conversant withthe South American republics, that Buenos Ayres will be the first citysouth of the equator in commercial rank and population, within a quarterof a century. The increase of this republic in population during thelast two decades has been over one hundred and fifty per cent., arapidity of growth almost without precedent. The increase of populationin our own country, during the same period, was less than eighty percent. Twenty-four lines of magnificent steamships connect the ArgentineRepublic with Europe, and twice that number of vessels sail back andforth each month of the year, while its railway system embraces over sixthousand miles of road in operation, besides one or two yet incompleteroutes, though the opening of its first line was so late as thirty-fouryears ago. Add to this her system of inland river navigation, coveringthousands of miles, which has been so systematized as to fullysupplement the remarkable railway facilities.

That Argentina rests at the present moment, as we have constantlyintimated, 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 thecountry, especially in railroad enterprises. Festina lente is agood sound maxim, which the people of this republic have quitedisregarded, and for which they and their creditors are sufferingaccordingly. It is seldom that any newly developed country escapes themaladies attendant upon too rapid growth, but this is a sort of illnesspretty sure to remedy itself in due time, and rarely impedes the properdevelopment of maturer years. If this republic has been undulyextravagant, and borrowed too much money in advancing her materialinterests, she has at least something to show for it. The funds have notbeen foolishly expended in sustaining worse than useless hordes of armedmen, nor in the profitless support of royal puppets.

Nations no less than individuals are liable to financial failure, butwith her grand and inexhaustible native resources, backed by the energyof her adopted citizens, this republic is as sure as anything mortal canbe to soon recover from her present business depression, and to astonishthe world at large by the rapidity of her financial recuperation. Herpresent annual crop of wool exceeds all former record in amount, and isauthoritatively estimated at over thirty million dollars in value. Tothis large industrial product is to be added her prolific harvest ofmaize and wheat, together with an almost fabulous amount of valuablehides.

CHAPTER XIII.

City of Rosario.—Its Population.—APretentious Church.—Ocean Experiences.—MorbidFancies.—Strait of Magellan.—A Great Discoverer.—LocalCharacteristics.—Patagonians and Fuegians.—GiantKelp.—Unique Mail Box.—Punta Arenas.—An Ex-PenalColony.—The Albatross.—Natives.—A NakedPeople.—Whales.—Sea-Birds.—Glaciers.—MountSarmiento.—A Singular Story.

The route to Rosario is rather monotonous by railway,taking the traveler through a very flat but fertile region, overprairies which are virtually treeless, not unlike long reaches ofcountry through which the Canadian Pacific Railroad passes betweenBanff, in the Rocky Mountains, and Port Arthur, on Lake Superior. Themonotonous scenery is varied only by a sight of occasional herds ofcattle, feeding upon the rich grass, with here and there a mountedherdsman, and the numberless telegraph poles which line the track. It isat least a seven hours' journey from Buenos Ayres to Rosario.Occasionally a marshy reach of soil is encountered where large aquaticbirds are seen, such as flamingoes, storks, cranes, herons, and thelike.

Rosario, in the province of Santa Fé, is the second city in point ofpopulation and importance in the Argentine Republic. It is a young andpromising capital, hardly yet fairly launched upon its voyage ofprosperity, but so far it has been singularly favored by variouscirc*mstances. The place is arranged in the usual crisscross manner asregards the streets of this country, which, unfortunately, are toonarrow for even its present limited business. In place of twenty-fourfeet they should have been laid out at least double that width, in thelight of all experience has developed in these South American cities.This new town is situated a little less than three hundred miles bywater from Buenos Ayres, and about two hundred by land, railroad andsteamboat connection being regularly maintained between them. The siteis admirably chosen on the banks of the Paraná River, fifty or sixtyfeet above its level, and it is destined to become, eventually, a greatcommercial centre. In 1854 it was only a large village, containing somefour thousand people. It is the natural seaport, not only of the richprovince of Cordova, but also of the more inland districts, Mendoza, SanLuis, Tucuman, Salta, and Jujuy, the first named having a population ofhalf a million. Owing to the height of the river's banks, merchandise isloaded by "shutes," being thus conducted at once from the warehouses tothe hatches of the vessels. Already a number of foreign steamships maybe seen almost any day lying at anchor opposite the town, while therailway communications in various directions have all of theirtransportation capacity fully employed. One of these lines reachesalmost across the continent to Mendoza, at the eastern slope of theAndes, west from Rosario. Other roads run both north and south fromhere. The foreign and domestic trade of the place is second only to thatof Buenos Ayres. Vessels drawing fifteen feet of water ascend the riverto this point. As a shipping port, Rosario has to a certain extentspecial advantages even over the larger city, being two or three hundredmiles 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 course of construction, and can hardly be finishedfast enough to meet the demand for their use. There are a fewsubstantial and handsome dwellings being erected, and many of a moreordinary class, in the finishing of which many a cargo of New Englandlumber is consumed. Some of the public buildings are imposing in sizeand architectural design, wisely constructed in anticipation of thefuture size of the city, whose rapid growth is only equaled by St. Paulin Brazil. The tramway, gas, and telephone have been successfullyintroduced. There is certainly no lack of enterprise evinced in alllegitimate business directions, while attention is being very properlyand promptly turned towards perfecting a carefully devised educationalsystem of free schools, primary and progressive. When the founders of anew city begin in this intelligent fashion, we may be very sure thatthey are moving in the right direction, and that permanency, togetherwith abundant present success, is sure to be the sequence.

On one side of the Plaza Mayor of Rosario stands a very pretentiouschurch, not yet quite completed, but as the towers and dome are finishedit makes a prominent feature from a long way off, as one approaches thetown. In the centre of this square is a marble shaft surmounted by afigure representing Victory, and at the base are four statues ofArgentine historic characters. This square is adorned with a double rowof handsome acacias. As regards amusem*nts, so far as is visible,theatricals seem to take the lead, the place having two theatres, bothof which appear to be enjoying a thriving business.

When a new city is started in South America upon a site so wellselected, and after so thoroughly substantial a plan, the result is noproblem. The influx of European immigrants promptly supplies thenecessary laborers and artisans, quite as fast, indeed, as they arerequired, while the ordinary growth and development of inland resourcestax the local business capacity, enterprise, and capital to theirutmost. Rosario needs to perfect a careful and thorough system ofdrainage. Fevers are at present alarmingly prevalent, arising fromcauses which judicious attention and sanitary means would easilyobviate.

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 lonelytrack of ocean. If we can summon a degree of philosophy to our aid, itis fortunate. Without genial companions, surrounded by strangers, andthrown entirely upon ourselves, mental resort often fails us, lifeappears sombre, the wide, wide ocean almost appalling. One of theinevitable trials of a long sea voyage is the wakeful hours which willoccasionally visit the most experienced traveler,—midnight hours,when the weary brain becomes preternaturally active, the imaginationoversensitive and weird in its erratic conceptions, while forebodings ofevil which never happens are apt to fill the mind with morbid anxieties.The very silence of the surroundings is impressive, interrupted only bythe regular throbbing of the great, tireless engine, and the dashingwaters chafing along the iron hull close beside the wakeful dreamer.Separated by thousands of miles from home, all communication cut offwith friends and the world at large, while watching the dreary ocean,day after day, week after week, we imagine endless misfortunes that mayhave come to dear ones on shore. However limited may be the world ofreality, that of the imagination is boundless, and sometimes onerealizes years of wretched anxiety in the space of a few overwroughthours. It is such moments of passive misery which beget wrinkles andwhite hairs. Action is the only relief, and one hastens to the deck fora change of scene and thoughts. After experiencing such a night, howglad and glorious seems the sun rising out of the wide waste of waters,how bright and glowing the smile he casts upon the long lazy swell ofthe South Atlantic, as if pointedly to rebuke the overwrought fancy, andreassure the aching heart!

Be we never so dreary, the great ship speeds on its course, heedingus not; its busy motor, like heart-beats, throbs with undisturbeduniformity, forcing the vessel onward despite the joy or sorrow of thoseit carries within its capacious hull.

The Strait of Magellan, which divides South America from themysterious island group which is known as Terra del Fuego, and connectsthe Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean by a most intricate water-way, isconsiderably less than four hundred miles in length, and of variouswidths. De Lesseps, with his successful Suez Canal and his deplorablePanama failure, is quite distanced by the hand of Nature in this line ofbusiness. It would require about ten thousand Suez Canals to make aMagellan Strait, and then it would be but a very sorry imitation. Itwill be remembered that the Portuguese navigator who discovered thisremarkable passage, and for whom it is justly named, first passedthrough it in November, 1520, finally emerging into the waters of thenew sea, upon which he was the first to sail, and which he named MarPacifico. Doubtless it seemed "pacific" to him after his rude experiencein the South Atlantic, but the author has known as rough weather in thismisnamed ocean as he has ever encountered in any part of the globe.

One can well conceive of the elation and surprise of Magellan, uponemerging from the intricate passage through which he had been strugglingto make his way for so many weary days. What a sensation of satisfactionand triumph must the courageous and persevering navigator haveexperienced at the discovery he had made! What mattered all his wearyhours of watching, of self-abnegation, of cold and hunger, of incessantbattling with the raging sea? Henceforth to him royal censure or royallargess mattered little. His name would descend to all futuregenerations as the great discoverer of this almost limitless ocean.

The passage leading to the strait on the Atlantic or eastern end isabout twenty miles across, Cape Vergens being on the starboard side, andCape Espiritu Santo—or Cape Holy Ghost—on the port. Theentrance on the western or Pacific end is marked by Cape Pillar,Desolation Land, where the scenery is far more rugged and mountainous,the cape terminating in two cliffs, shaped so much like artificialtowers as to be quite deceptive at a short distance. The narrowest partof the strait is about one mile in width, known to mariners as CrookedReach. A passage through this great natural canal is an experiencesimilar, in some respects, to that of sailing in the inland sea ofAlaska, between Victoria and Glacier Bay, bringing into view denseforests, immense glaciers, abrupt mountain peaks, and snow-coveredsummits, the whole shrouded in the same solitude and silence, varied bythe occasional flight of sea-birds or the appearance of seals andporpoises from below the deep waters. So irregular in its course is thispassage between the two great oceans, so changeable are its currents, soimpeded by dangerous rocks and hidden shoals, so beset with squalls andsudden storms, that sailing vessels are forced to double theever-dreaded Cape Horn rather than take the Magellan route. A UnitedStates man-of-war, a sailing ship, was once over two months in makingthe passage through the strait, and Magellan tells us that he wasthirty-seven days in passing from ocean to ocean, though using allordinary dispatch. Within a fortnight of the writing of these notes, aEuropean mail steamship was lost here by striking upon a sunken rock.Fortunately, owing to the proximity of the shore and moderate weatherprevailing, the crew and passengers were all saved.

Winter lingers, and the days are short in this latitude. A sailingship would be compelled to find anchorage nightly, and some days wouldperhaps be driven back in a few hours a distance which it had required aweek to make in her proper direction. Steamships usually accomplish therun in from thirty to forty hours, there being many reaches where it isnecessary to run only at half speed. If heavy fogs and bad weatherprevail, they often lay by during the night, and also in snow-storms,which occur not infrequently. The sky is seldom clear for many hourstogether, and the sun's warmth is rarely felt, the rain falling almostdaily. Even in the summer of this high southern latitude the nights arecold and gloomy, ice nearly always forming. It must be admitted thatthis region, of itself, is not calculated to attract the most inveteratewanderer. One is not surprised when reading the rather startlingnarrations of the old navigators who made the passage of the strait,encountering the constantly varying winds, and having canvas only todepend upon. The marvel is that, with their primitive means, they shouldhave accomplished so much. There are no lighthouses in this passage fromocean to ocean, though it has been pretty well surveyed and buoyed inlate years, thanks to the liberality of the English naval service, bywhom this was done. There is, in fact, a dearth of lighthouses on theentire coast of South America, especially on the west side of thecontinent. We can recall but three between Montevideo and Valparaiso, adistance, by way of the strait, of fully two thousand miles. Thelighthouses we refer to are at Punta Arenas, Punta Galesa, nearValdivia, 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; humanity can hardly find congenial footholdhere.

The natives of Patagonia, who live on the northern side of thestrait, are called horse Indians, because they make such constant use ofthe wild horses; they do not move in any direction without them. Thoseon the Fuegian side are called canoe Indians, as the canoe forms theiruniversal and indeed only mode of transportation. The former are arather large, tall race of people, the men averaging about six feet inheight; the latter are smaller in physical development, and are lesscivilized than the Indians of Patagonia, which, to be sure, is sayingvery little for the latter, who are really a low type of nomads. TheFuegians are believed to still practice cannibalism. One writer tells usthat criminals and prisoners of war are thus disposed of, and that thelast crew of shipwrecked seamen who fell into their hands were roastedand eaten by them. Their hostile purposes are well understood, forwhenever 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 alittle trading is attempted, the main body of natives keeping well outof sight; but in case of any mishap to a ship, or if a small party landand are unable to defend themselves, they will appear in swarms fromvarious hiding-places, swooping down upon their victims like vultures inthe desert. The officers of the yacht Sunbeam, as recounted by LadyBrassey, found it necessary to turn her steam-pipes full force upon theswarming natives, who were doubtless preparing to make an effort tocapture the yacht and her crew, hoping to overcome them by mere force ofnumbers. They were, however, so frightened and utterly astonished by themeans of defense adopted by Lord Brassey that they threw themselves, oneand all, into the sea, and sought the shore pell-mell. Humboldt, in hisday, ranked these Fuegians among the lowest specimens of humanity he hadever met, and they certainly do not seem to have improved much in themean time. One is at a loss to understand why the Patagonians shouldhave impressed the early navigators with the idea that they were apeople of gigantic size. There is no evidence to-day of their being, orever having been, taller or larger than the average New Englander.Half-naked savages, standing six feet high, naturally impress one asbeing taller than Europeans clad in the conventional style of civilizedpeople.

The waters of Magellan are very dark, deep, and sullen in aspect,with insufficient room in many places to manage a ship properly undercanvas alone. In their depth and darkness these waters also resemblethose of Alaska's inland sea. The shores are quite bold, and the rocksbelow the surface are mostly indicated by giant kelp—Fucusgiganteus—growing over them, a kind provision of nature inbehalf of safe navigation. It will not answer, however, to depend solelyupon this indication; the many rocks in the strait are by no means allso designated, nor are they all buoyed. Sea-kelp is very plentiful inthis region, and serves many useful purposes. It forms a nourishing foodfor the Fuegians under certain circ*mstances, when their usual supply isscarce. They dry it and prepare it in a rude way suited to theirunsophisticated palates. It also forms a portion of the support of theseals and sea-otters; these creatures feed freely upon its more delicateand tender shoots. It is wonderful how it can exist and thrive amongsuch breakers as it constantly encounters in these restless waters,which are churned into mounds of foam in squally weather; but it doesgrow in great luxuriance, rising oftentimes two hundred feet and morefrom the bottom of the sea. It is curious to watch its abundant growthand its peculiar habits. If the wind and tide are in the same direction,the plant lies smooth upon the water; but if the wind is against thetide, the leaves curl up, causing a ripple on the surface, like a schoolof small fish. A specimen of giant kelp was secured from alongside ofthe ship, broken off at arm's length below the surface of the water. Itwas heavy and full of parasites. Upon shaking it, myriads of marineinsects, shells, tiny crabs, sea-eggs, and star-fish fell upon the deck.All of these were of the smallest species, some almost invisible to thenaked eye, but how wonderful they appeared under the microscope, whichdeveloped hundreds of forms of life infinitesimal in size!

At a prominent point of the main channel is a strong box made fast bya 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, eachshipmaster undertaking the free delivery of all letters whose addresswas within the line of his subsequent course. In the whaleship service,especially during times now long past, this arrangement has been ofgreat service, and there is no instance on record where the purpose ofthis self-sustaining post-office was disregarded. In these days of fastand 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 onlywhite settlement was originally a penal colony founded by the Chiliangovernment, though it no longer serves for that purpose, the convictshaving risen some years since, and overpowered the garrison. A largeportion of the Patagonian shore is well wooded, besides which anavailable coal deposit has been found and worked to fair advantage.Steamships, which were formerly obliged to go to the Falkland Islands,in the Atlantic, five hundred miles from the mouth of the strait, whenrunning short of fuel, can now get their supply in an exigency at PuntaArenas—"Sandy Point." It is situated in the eastern section of thestrait, about a hundred and twenty-five miles from the entrance. We donot 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 Saidat the Mediterranean end of the Suez Canal, with its heterogeneouspopulation. That of Sandy Point is made up of all nationalities,strongly tinctured with ex-convicts, and deserters from the Chilian armyand navy. English is the language most commonly spoken, though the placeis Chilian territory. It contains some twelve or fifteen hundredinhabitants, and is the most southerly town on the globe, as well as themost undesirable one in which to live, if one may express an opinionupon such brief acquaintance.

We made no attempt to go on shore at Punta Arenas. A rain-storm wasat its height while the ship lay off the town, and when it rains inthese latitudes, it attends exclusively to the business in hand. Thewater comes down like Niagara, until finally, when the clouds haveentirely emptied themselves, it stops. Jupiter Pluvius is master of thesituation, when he asserts himself, and there is no one who can disputehis authority. Umbrellas and waterproofs are of no more use as aprotection during the downpour, than they would be to a person who hadfallen overboard in water forty fathoms deep. One of our passengers cameon deck with a life preserver about his body, solemnly declaring that ifthis sort of thing continued much longer, the article would beabsolutely necessary in order to keep afloat.

During the season the Patagonians bring into Punta Arenas the resultof their hunting in the shape of seal and otter skins, together withguanaco, and silver-fox skins, which are gathered by local traders andshipped to Europe. Occasionally a few sea-otter skins of rare value areobtained from here, fully equal, we were told, to anything taken inAlaskan waters. We have said that Punta Arenas is the most southerlytown on the globe. The next nearest town to the Antarctic circle is theBluff, so called,—also known as Campbelltown,—in the extremesouth of New Zealand, where the author has eaten of the famous oystersindigenous there.

Two sorts of supplies are to be obtained by navigators of the strait,namely, fuel and good drinking water. Sometimes a valuable skin robe maybe purchased of the Patagonian Indians. It is called a guanaco-skincloak, and made from the skin of the young deer. To obtain these skinsof a uniform fineness of texture, the fawns are killed when but eight orten days old; the available product got from each one is so small ashardly to exceed twice the size of one's hand. These are sewn togetherwith infinite care and neatness by the Indian women, who use the finesinews taken from ostriches' legs for thread. One of these guanaco-skincloaks represents a vast amount of labor, and a hundred fawns must dieto supply the raw material. Only chiefs of tribes can afford to wearthem. Strangers who are willing to pay a price commensurate with theirreal cost and value may occasionally buy such an article as we describe,but these cloaks are rare. One was brought on board ship and shown tous, the price of which was twelve hundred dollars, nor do we think itwas an excessive valuation. It was worth the amount as a rare curiosityfor some art museum.

That monarch bird of Antarctic regions, the albatross, frequents bothends of the strait, and sometimes accompanies steamships during thepassage, together with cape-pigeons, gulls, and other marine birds,though as a rule the albatross is little seen except on the broadexpanse of the ocean. A bird called the steamer-duck, also nicknamed bysailors the paddle-wheel duck, was pointed out to us by our captain. Itis 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. Thesteamer-duck is a large bird, nearly the size of the domestic goose;after its fashion, it moves with astonishing velocity, considerablyfaster than the average speed of a steamship. But we were speaking amoment since of the albatross, which is a feathered cannibal, and showssome truly wolfish traits. When one of its own species, a member of thesame flock even, is wounded and drops helpless to the surface of thesea, its comrades swoop down upon it, and tearing the body to pieceswith their powerful bills, devour the flesh ravenously. This waswitnessed near the Arctic circle, between Hobart, in Tasmania, and theBluff, in New Zealand, a few years ago, when some English sportsmensucceeded in wounding one of these mammoth birds from the deck of thesteamship Zealandia. The only other known bird of our day which measuresfrom eleven to twelve feet between the tips of the extended wings is theSouth American condor.

The sea hereabouts abounds in fish, which constitute the largestportion of the food supply of the few Indians who live near the coast ofeither shore. The Fuegians dwell in the rudest shelters possible,nothing approaching the form of a house. The frailest shelter, coveredwith sea-lion's skins, suffices to keep them from the inclemencies ofthe weather. With the exception of an animal skin of some sort, havingthe 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 thesenatives, while quite young, were taken to England by advice of themissionaries and taught to read and write, being also kindly instructedin civilized manners and customs, which they gladly adopted for the timebeing; but upon returning to their native land, in every instance theyrapidly lapsed into a condition of semi-savagery. It had been hoped theywould act as a civilizing medium with their former friends, afterreturning among them, but this proved fallacious, and was a greatdisappointment to the well-meaning philanthropists. This sameexperience, as is well known, has been the result of similar experimentswith natives of Africa and the South Sea Islands. The author isconversant with a striking illustration of this character in connectionwith an Australian Indian youth, which occurred in Queensland, and whichwas both interesting and very romantic in its development. It simplywent to prove that hereditary instincts cannot be easily eradicated, andthat not one, but many generations are necessary to banish savageproclivities which are inherited from a long line of ancestors.

Gold is found to some extent in the beds of the streams inPatagonia,—free gold, washed from the disintegrated rocks. Nativessometimes bring small quantities of the gold dust into Punta Arenas,with which to purchase tobacco and other articles. Many heedless andunprincipled individuals sell them intoxicants, to obtain which theseIndians will part with anything they possess, after they have oncebecome familiar with the taste and effect of the captivating poison.

Not far from Cape Forward, near the middle of the strait, which isthe most southerly portion of the American continent, three native boatswere seen during our passage. The steamer was slowed for a few momentsto give us a brief opportunity to see the savage occupants. These threefrail, ill-built canoes were tossed high and low by the swell of thePacific, which set to the eastward through the strait. Each boatcontained a man, a couple of women, and one or two children, the latterentirely naked, the others nearly so. They were Fuegians, raising theirhands and voices to attract our attention, asking for food and tobacco,to which appeal a generous response was made. Their broad faces, highcheek-bones, low foreheads, and flat noses, their faces and necksscreened by coarse black hair, did not challenge our admiration, howevermuch we were exercised by pity for human beings in so desolate acondition. They certainly possessed two redeemingfeatures,—brilliant eyes and teeth of dazzling whiteness. Thefruit thrown to them seemed best to suit the ideas and palates of thechildren, who devoured oranges, skin and all; but the gift of clothingwhich 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 tobe in far better physical condition than the men, whose bodies consistedof little besides skin and bones. They were copper colored, and the skinof the women shone in the bright sunlight which prevailed for themoment, as though they had been varnished. If their faces had been aswell formed as their bodies, they would have been models of naturalbeauty. How these people could remain so nearly naked with apparentcomfort, while we found overcoats quite necessary, was a problemdifficult to solve satisfactorily.

"They were born so," said our first officer. "As you go through lifewith your face and hands exposed, so they go with their entire bodies.It is a mere matter of habit,—habit from babyhood tomaturity."

All of which is perfectly reasonable. It was observed that on thebottom of their boats was a layer of flat stones, and on these, justamidship, was spread a low, smouldering fire of dried vines and smalltwigs, designed to temper the atmosphere about them. So frail were theboats that one of the occupants was kept constantly baling outwater.

It is impossible to form any intelligent estimate as to how many ofthese aborigines there are in and about the strait. They find food, likethe canvas-back ducks, in the wild celery, adding shell-fish and driedberberries, and are a strictly nomadic people. After exhausting theproducts of one vicinity, for the time being, they move on, but returnto the locality at a proper time, when nature has recuperated herselfand furnished a fresh supply of vegetable growth and edible shell-fish.A stranded whale is a godsend to these savages, upon the putrid flesh ofwhich they live and fatten until all has disappeared. In their primitiveway they hunt this leviathan, but want of proper facilities renders themrarely successful. Occasionally they manage to plant a spear in somevital spot, deep enough to be effectual, so that the whale, after divingto the depths of the sea, finally comes to the surface, near the placewhere he was wounded, to thrash about and to die. Even then, unless itis at a favorable point, the large body is liable to be swept away bythe strong tide setting through the strait, so that the natives seldomsecure a carcass by these means.

Not long since one of the European mail steamers, on approaching theAtlantic end of the strait, sighted an object which was at first thoughtto be a sunken rock. If this was its character, it was all important toobtain 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 astout wooden spear which had fatally wounded the creature. Securelyattached to the spear, by means of a rope made of animal sinews, therewere a couple of inflated bladders. The spear was evidently a Fuegianweapon, and though it had finally cost the whale his life, the dead bodyhad been carried by the current far beyond the reach of those who hadcaused the fatal wound. The discovery showed the crude manner in whichthese savages seek to possess themselves of a whale occasionally andthus to appease their barbaric appetites. They could not pursue one intheir frail boats, but the creature is sometimes found sleeping on thesurface of the sea, which is the Fuegian opportunity for approaching itnoiselessly, and for planting a spear in some vital part of the hugebody. Whales, when thus attacked, do not show fight, but their instinctleads them to dive at once.

A few whales were observed within the strait during our passage, someso near as to show that they had no fear of the ship. It was curious towatch them. There was a baby whale among the rest, five or six feet inlength, which kept very close to its dam; it suddenly disappeared oncewhile we were watching the school, though only to rise again to thesurface of the sea and emit a tiny fountain of spray from its diminutiveblow-hole. In passing a small inlet which formed a calm, sheltered pieceof water, still as an inland lake, there were seen upon its tranquilbosom a few white geese, quietly floating, while close at hand upon somerocks, a half score of awkward penguins were also observed, with theirludicrous dummy wings, and their bodies supported in a half 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 pouchbearing witness to its proverbial voracity. All the birds one sees inthese far away regions have each some peculiar adaptability to theclimate, the locality, or to both. The penguin never makes the mistakeof seeking our northern shores, nor is the albatross often seen north ofthe fortieth degree of south latitude. True, were the former toemigrate, he would have to swim the whole distance, but the latter is somarvelously strong of wing that it has been said of him, he mightbreakfast, if he chose, at the Cape of Good Hope, and dine on the coastof Newfoundland.

Terra del Fuego,—"Land of Fire,"—which makes the southernside of the strait, opposite Patagonia, is composed of a very largegroup of islands washed by the Atlantic on the east side and the Pacificon the west, trending towards the southeast for about two hundred milesfrom the strait, and terminating at Cape Horn. The largest of theseislands is East Terra del Fuego, which measures from east to westbetween three and four hundred miles. One can only speak vaguely ofdetail, as this is still a terra incognita. These islands doindeed form "a land of desolation," as Captain Cook appropriately namedthem, sparsely inhabited to be sure, but hardly fit for human beings.They are deeply indented and cut up by arms of the sea, and composedmostly of sterile mountains, whose tops are covered with perpetual snow.When the mountains are not too much exposed to the ocean storms on thewest coast, they are scantily covered with a species of hardy,wind-distorted trees from the water's edge upward to the snow line,which is here about two thousand feet above the sea. In sheltered areasthis growth is dense and forest-like, especially nearest to the sea; inothers it is interspersed by bald and blanched patches of barren rocks.In some open places, where they have worn themselves a broad path, theglaciers come down to the water, discharging sections of ice constantlyinto the deep sea, crowded forward and downward by the immense butslow-moving mass behind,—a frozen river,—thus illustratingthe habit of the iceberg-producing glaciers of the far north.

One never approaches this subject without recalling the lamentedAgassiz and his absorbing theories relating to it.

The author has seen huge glaciers in Scandinavia and in Switzerland,forming natural exhibitions of great interest; each country haspeculiarities in this respect. In the last-named country, for instance,there is no example where a glacier descends lower than thirty-fivehundred feet above the sea level, while in Norway the only one of whichhe can speak from personal observation has before it a large terminalmoraine, thus losing the capacity for that most striking performance,the discharge of icebergs. The best example of this interestingoperation of nature which we have ever witnessed, and probably the mosteffective in the world, is that of the Muir glacier in Alaska, where animmense frozen river comes boldly down from the Arctic regions to thesea level, with a sheer height at its terminus of over two hundred feet.From this unique façade, nearly two miles in width, the constanttumbling of icebergs into the sea is accompanied by a noise like a salvoof cannon. This glacier, it should be remembered, also extends to thebottom of the bay, where it enters it two hundred feet below the surfaceof the water, thus giving it a height, or perhaps we should say a depthand height combined, of fully four hundred feet. Icebergs are dischargedfrom the submerged portion continually, and float to the surface, thusrepeating the process below the water which is all the while going onabove it, and visible upon the perpendicular surface. Nothing which wehave seen in the Canadian Selkirks, in Switzerland, Norway, orelsewhere, 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 ofMagellan is Mount Sarmiento, which is inexpressibly grand in itsproportions, dominating the borders of co*ckburn's Channel near thePacific end of the great water-way. It is about seven thousand feet inheight, a spotless cone of snow, being in form extremely abrupt andpointed. This frosty monarch sends down from its upper regions a scoreor more of narrow, sky-blue glaciers to the sea through openings in thedusky forest. Darwin was especially impressed by the sight of these whenhe explored this region, and speaks of them as looking like so manyNiagaras, but they are only miniature glaciers after all. One sees inthe Pyrenees and the St. Gothard Pass similar cascades flowing down fromthe mountains towards the valleys, except that in the one instance thecrystal waters are liquid, in the other they are quite congealed. Thegroup or range of which Sarmiento is the apex is very generally shroudedin mist, and is visited by frequent rain, snow, and hail storms. We werefortunate to see it under a momentary glow of warm sunshine, when thesky was deepest blue, and the ermine cloak of the mountain was spangledwith 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 barbarousnatives who inhabit these bleak regions, must surely shorten theirlives, and perhaps it does so, though "the survival of the fittest," whogrow up to maturity, is in such numbers that one is a little puzzled inconsidering the matter. A singular instance touching upon this pointcame indirectly to the writer's knowledge.

It appears that four Fuegian women, one of whom was about forty yearsof age, and the others respectively about twenty, twenty-five, andthirty, were picked up adrift in the strait a few years ago. It wasbelieved that they had escaped from some threatened tribal cruelty, butupon this subject they would reveal nothing. These fugitives were kindlytaken in hand by philanthropic people at Sandy Point, and entertainedwith true Christian hospitality. When first discovered they were, asusual, quite naked, but were promptly clothed and properly housed. Nomore work was required of them than they chose voluntarily to perform;in short, they were most kindly treated, and though the best of care wastaken of them in a hygienic sense, they all gradually faded, and died ofconsumption in less than two years. They seemed to be contented, weregrateful and cheerful, but clothing and a warm house to live in, odd asit may seem, killed them! They were born to a free, open air and exposeddaily life, and their apparently sturdy constitutions required such amode of living. Civilized habits, strange to say, proved fatal to thesewild children of the rough Fuegian coast.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Land of Fire.—Cape Horn.—In theOpen Pacific.—Fellow Passengers.—Large Sea-Bird.—AnInteresting Invalid.—A Weary Captive.—A Broken-HeartedMother.—Study of the Heavens.—The Moon.—Chilian CivilWar.—Concepcion.—A Growing City.—CommercialImportance.—Cultivating City Gardens on a NewPlan.—Important Coal Mines.—Delicious Fruits.

Magellan named this extreme southern land, of which wehave been speaking, "the Land of Fire," because of the numerous fireswhich he, from his ships, saw on the shore at night, and which were thensupposed by the discoverers to be of a volcanic character. The factprobably was that the Indians did not fail to recognize the need ofartificial heat, especially at night, though they had not sufficientgenius to teach them to construct garments suitable to protect them fromthe inclemency of the weather. These fires were kindled in the open air,but the natives camped close about them, sleeping within theirinfluence.

Cape Horn, the extreme point of South America, on the outermostisland of the Fuegian group, is a lofty, steep black rock, with apointed summit, which has stood there for ages, like a watchful sentinelat his post. Two thirds of Patagonia and Terra del Fuego—thewestern part—belong to Chili, and the balance of both—theeastern part—belongs to the Argentine Republic. A recentlyconsummated treaty between these two nationalities has fixed upon thisfinal division of territory, and thus settled a question which has longbeen a source of dispute and ill feeling between them. This divisionmakes 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 ofthe strait affords very little variety of scenery; the dull hue of thebarren shore is without change of color for hundreds of miles, until theeye becomes weary of watching it, as we speed onward through the long,indolent ocean swell. Arid hills and small indentures form the coastline, but as we get further northward, this dreary sameness is varied bythe appearance of an occasional small settlement, forming a group ofdwellings of a rude character, possibly a mining region or a fishinghamlet, connected with some business locality further inland. Sometimesa green valley is descried, which makes a verdant gulch opening quitedown to the sea.

This dense monotony becomes more and more tedious, until one longs toget somewhere, anywhere, away from it.

In the dearth of scenic interest, we fall to studying the variouspassengers traveling between the Pacific ports, a great variety ofnationalities being represented. Among those of the second-class was ahandsome Italian boy, with marvelous eyes of jet and a profusion of longblack hair. He had a small organ hung about his neck, and carried anintelligent monkey with him. The boy and his monkey joined in theperformance of certain simple, amusing tricks to elicit money from thelookers-on. Both boy and monkey were happy in the result achieved, theformer in liberal cash receipts, the latter in being fed liberally withcakes and bonbons. The capacity of monkeys for the rapid consumption ofpalatable dainties is one of the unsolved mysteries of nature.

Schools of porpoises played about the hull of the ship, and clouds ofsea-birds at times wheeled about the topmasts, or followed in the ship'swake watching for refuse from the cook's department. Occasionally thehead of a large, deep-water turtle would appear for a moment above thesurface, twisting its awkward neck to watch the course of the steamer,while shoreward the mottled surface of the gently undulating wavesbetrayed the presence of myriads of small fish, over which hoveredpredatory birds of the gull tribe. Now and again one would swoop swiftlydownward to secure a victim to its appetite. Few albatrosses were seenafter leaving the Pacific mouth of the strait. They are lovers of thestormy Antarctic region, with the tempestuous atmosphere of which theirgreat power of wing enables them to cope successfully. The author hasseen one of these birds off the southern coast of New Zealand whichspread eleven feet from tip to tip of its extended wings. It was caughtwith a floating bait by one of the seamen and drawn on board ship, whereit was measured, but not until a long contest of strength had takenplace between men and bird. The albatross was slightly wounded in themouth and throat by the process of catching him with a baited hook. Butthey are hardy creatures, and unless injured in some vital part paylittle heed to a small wound. After this bird had been examined, it wasliberated, and resumed its graceful flight about the ship as thoughnothing unusual had happened.

An invalid girl of Spanish birth, who was perhaps sixteen years ofa*ge, very tenderly cared for by her mother, was propped up daily in areclining seat upon deck, where she might find amusem*nt in watching thesea and distant shore, while inhaling the saline tonic of theatmosphere. Poor child, how her large, dark eyes, pallid lips, andpainful respiration appealed to one's sympathy! It required noprofessional knowledge to divine her approaching fate. She was really inthe last stages of consumption, and was on her way to a popularsanitarium near the coast, hoping against reason that the change mightprove restorative and of radical benefit. It was pleasant to observe howpromptly every one on board strove to add to her comfort by simpleattentions and services, and how the choicest bits from the table weresecured to tempt her capricious appetite. The grateful mother's eyeswere often suffused with tears, carefully hidden from the gentleinvalid. Her maternal heart was too full for the utterance even ofthanks.

"Ah," said she to us in a low tone of voice, "she is the last of mythree children, two boys and this girl. The two boys faded away justlike this. Do you think there is any hope for her, señor?""Why not, señora? We should never cease to hope. The land breeze and thesprings where you are going may do wonders."

Heaven forgive us. The child's fate was only too plainly to be readin her attenuated form, and the dull action of her almost congestedlungs.

One day a small, weary sea-bird, newly out of its nest, flew on boardour ship quite exhausted, and being easily secured, was given to theyoung girl to pet. It soon became quite at home in her lap, eating smallbread crumbs and little bits of meat from her fingers. Confidence beingthus established between them, the little half-fledged creature wouldnot willingly leave its new-found benefactress. It seemed to be aprovidential occurrence, affording considerable diversion to the sickone. For a while, at least, she was aroused from the listlessness whichis so very significant in consumption, and her whole heart went out tothe confiding little waif. It was a pretty sight to see the bird nestlecontentedly close to her bosom, the pale-faced girl scarcely lessfragile than the little feathered stranger she had adopted. No onethought that Death was hovering so very near, yet the third night afterthe bird flew on board the young girl lay in her shroud, with an ivorycrucifix, typical of the Romish faith, in one hand, and the otherresting upon the inanimate bird she had befriended, which had alsobreathed its last.

Attempted consolation to a freshly bleeding heart is almost alwayspremature, and there are few, very few, human beings competent to offerit effectually under the best circ*mstances. The sad-eyed motherlistened to a few well-meant words of this character, but slowly shookher head and made no reply. Time only could assuage the keenness of hersorrow. By and by she spoke, with her eyes still resting upon that pale,dead face, where nothing but a wonderful peace and serenity were nowexpressed.

"Have birds souls, do you think?" she asked, in a low, tremblingvoice.

"Possibly," was the reply; "but why do you ask?""Because," she continued, speaking very slowly, "that tiny creature andmy darling died almost at the same moment, and if so, her spirit wouldhave company on its way to the good God."

The unconscious poetry of the thought, so quietly expressed by thesorrowing mother, as she sat beside the corpse with folded hands andburning eyes, which could not find the relief of tears, was verytouching.

The motor of the big ship throbbed on, the routine of duty continuedunchanged, passengers ate, drank, and were merry, the sea-birds wheeledabout us uttering their sharp contentious cries, and we pressed forwardthrough the opposing wind and tide, as though nothing had happened. Onlya mother's loving heart was broken. Only a soul gone to its God. Surelysuch sweet innocence must be welcome in heaven. But ah! the greatmystery of it all!

Most intelligent people will agree with us that no study known toscience can compare with astronomy for absorbing interest. At sea onefinds ample time, convenience, and incentive to study the sky, populouswith countless hosts of constellations. Especially is it interesting towatch the numerous phases of the moon, beginning with her advent as adelicate crescent of pale light in the eastern sky, after the sun hasset, and continuing to the period when she becomes full. Each succeedingnight it is found that she has moved farther and farther westward,until, arriving at the full, she rises nearly at the same time that thesun sets. From the period of full moon, the disc of light diminishesnightly until the last quarter is reached, and the moon is then seenhigh over the ship's topmast head, before day breaks in the east. Thusshe goes on waning, all the while drawing closer to the sun, untilfinally she becomes absorbed in his light. The interesting processcompleted, she again comes into view at twilight in the west, in herexquisite crescent form, once more to pass through a similar series ofchanges.

The superstition of sailors touching the moonlight is curious. Noforemast hand will sleep where it shines directly upon him. They arevoluble in relating many instances of comrades rendered melancholy-madby so doing. "They talk about the moon making the ebb and flow of thetide," said an able seaman to the author. "There's lots of queer thingsabout the moon, but that's d—d nonsense, saving yourhonor's presence." Thus Jack eagerly absorbs superstitious ideas, andignores natural phenomena. No humble class of men are so intelligent ina general way, and yet at the same time so universally superstitious, asthose who go down to the sea in ships.

In coming on to the west coast it is natural, perhaps, for the readerto expect us to refer briefly to the late civil war in Chili, but wehave not attempted in these notes to depict the local politicalcondition of any of the states of South America. In the past they havemost of them shown themselves as changeable as the wind, and remarkswhich would depict the status of to-day might be quite unsuited to thatof to-morrow. The average reader is sufficiently familiar with thestruggle so lately ended in Chili. One party was led by the latePresident Balmaceda, in opposition to the other, known as theCongressional party. That which brought about this open warfare was therefusal of Congress any longer to recognize the president on account ofhis high-handed, illegal, and venal official conduct. A line willillustrate the cause of the outbreak. It was the Constitution of thecountry as against a Dictatorship. The President of the ChilianRepublic, like the President of the United States, has a personalauthority such as nowadays is wielded by few constitutional monarchs.Balmaceda proved to be a tyrant of the first water, abusing the power ofhis position to condemn to death those who opposed him, without even thesemblance of a trial. He succeeded in attaching most of the regular armyto his cause by profuse promises and the free use of money, while thenavy went almost bodily over to the side of Congress. The contestassumed revolutionary proportions, and many battles were fought. As acasual observer, the author heartily coincided with the Congressionalparty, and rejoices at their wholesale triumph.

The suicidal act which ended Balmaceda's life was no heroic resort,but the deed of a coward fearing to face the consequences of hismurderous career. It is not the man who has been actuated by high andnoble sentiments who cuts his throat or blows out his brains. Such isthe act of the cunning fraud who realizes that he has not only totallyfailed 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 itcertainly leaves the world with one less thoroughly selfish character.The disappearance of such an individual may produce a momentary rippleon the surface of time, but it fails to leave any permanent mark.

Nearly three hundred miles south of Santiago, capital of Chili, onthe Pacific coast, is situated the city of Concepcion. It stands on theright bank of the river Biobio, six or seven miles from its mouth, andcontains about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The people seem to beexceptionally active and enterprising, though at this writing sufferingfrom the effects of the late civil war. It is the third city in point ofsize and importance in the republic, and dates from over three hundredyears ago. It will be remembered also that it once held the place nowoccupied by Santiago as capital of the country. The city is built in thevalley of Mocha, under the coast range of hills, and is justly famed,like Puebla in Mexico, for its pretty women and beautiful flowers. It isa clean and thrifty town, with handsome shops, a charming plaza, and anattractive alameda. This latter deserves special mention. It is a milelong, and beautified with several rows of tall Lombardy poplars, thesight of which carried us to another hemisphere, where those lovelyItalian plains stretch away from the environs of Milan towards thefoothills of the neighboring Alps and the more distant Apennines. Greatthings are prognosticated for Concepcion in the near future by itsfriends, and it is already the principal town of southern Chili. Thestreets are well paved, and lined by handsome business blocks, togetherwith pleasant dwelling-houses, built low, to avoid the effect ofearthquakes, the universal material being sun-dried bricks, finishedexternally in stucco. The façades are painted in harlequin variety ofcolors, yellow, blue, and peach-blossom prevailing. The town has reallymore the appearance of a northern than a southern city, and has longbeen connected with Valparaiso by railway.

Some of the most extensive coal mines on this part of the continenthave been discovered in this vicinity, and are being worked on a largescale. In fact, Coronal, not far away, is the great coaling station onthe Chilian coast for steamships bound to Europe or Panama. One wouldsuppose that this coal mining must be quite profitable, as we were toldthat twenty-five and even thirty dollars per ton was realized for itdelivered at the nearest tide-water. The port of Concepcion is someseven miles from the city, where the river Biobio flows into the oceanat Talcahuano,—pronounced Tal-ca-wha'no,—a small town onConcepcion Bay possessing an excellent harbor. There are here a largemarine dock, an arsenal, and a seaman's hospital. Close by the shore isa spacious and convenient railway station. The bay is some six mileswide by seven in length. There is a resident population of nearly fourthousand, who form an extremely active community. The majority of thehouses are of a very humble character and, like those of Concepcion, arebuilt of adobe.

Spanish capitals in the West Indies and South America were originallyplaced, like Concepcion, some distance from the coast, to render themmore secure against the attack of pirates and lawless sea-rovers, whomight land from their vessels, burn a town on the seashore, afterrobbing it of all valuables, and easily make good their escape; whereasto march inland and attack a town far from their base, or to proceed upa 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 ofLima; Valparaiso, of Santiago; and Talcahuano, of Concepcion. Thesituation of the last named capital is admirable, at the head of thebay, which affords one of the best harbors on the west coast of thecontinent. When the transcontinental railway from Buenos Ayres, on theAtlantic side, is finished, surmounting the passes of theAndes,—already "a foregone conclusion,"—it will have itstermination here at Talcahuano, which must then become a great shippingpoint for New Zealand and Australia. Half a dozen lines of European mailsteamers already touch here regularly. The river is too shallow to admitof vessels drawing more than a few feet of water ascending it so far asConcepcion, but Talcahuano is all sufficient as a port.

Few places have been so frequently devastated by fire, flood, andearthquakes, or so often ravaged by war, as has this interesting city.In the early days the Araucanian Indians put the settlers to the swordagain and again. This was the bravest of all the native Indian tribes ofSouth America, and is still an unconquered people. The city was laid inruins so late as 1835 by an earthquake, though no special signs of thisdestructive visitor are to be seen here to-day. Still, one cannot butfeel that with such possibilities hanging over the locality, there mustbe few people willing to expend freely of their means for substantialbuilding purposes, or to make Concepcion a permanent place of abode.Human nature adapts itself to all exigencies, however, and the placegrows rapidly, notwithstanding the discouraging circ*mstances which wehave named. It is not the native but the foreign element of thepopulation which is doing so much for this region. Were the minglednative race to be left to themselves, there would be few signs ofprogress evinced; they would rapidly lapse into a condition ofsemi-barbarism. The Chilian proper is a very poor creature as regardsmorals, intelligence, or true manhood; his instincts are brutal and hisaims predaceous.

Like all South American cities, Concepcion is laid out by rule andcompass, the fairly broad streets crossing each other at right angles.There is a large and costly cathedral, but a wholesome fear ofearthquakes has caused it to be left without the usual twin towers,which gives it an unfinished appearance. The place also contains otherchurches, a well-appointed theatre, two hospitals, and several edificesdevoted to charitable purposes. Opposite the cathedral stands theIntendencia, a large and handsome government house. Telephones andelectric lights have long been adopted, and the telegraph poles do muchabound. In these foreign places, so far away from home, to see thestreets lined, as they are with us, by big, tall poles, holding aloft amaze of wires, is very suggestive; but where can one go that they arenot? It is curious to realize that we can step into an office close athand and promptly communicate with any part of the world. We may havesailed over the ocean many thousands of miles, and have consumed monthsto reach the spot where we stand, but electricity, like thought,annihilates space, and will take our message instantly to itsdestination, though it be at the farthest end of the globe. Thesemarvelous facilities are no longer confined to populous centres.Electricity not only bears our messages to the uttermost parts of theworld, 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 severalnew railway connections terminating here have lately been accomplished;but the important event already referred to, of the transcontinentalrailway, will finally insure her commercial greatness. The town issurrounded by a widespread, fertile country, abounding in both mineraland agricultural wealth, equal to, if not surpassing, any other provincein Chili. The city was financially strong before the late civil war, andhas still some very wealthy residents. The principal bank of Concepcion,with a capital of one million dollars, paid a dividend to itsstockholders in 1890 of sixteen per cent. on the previous year'sbusiness. The cathedral and government house, already spoken of, fronton the plaza, a large open square ornamented with statuary, trees, andflowers, the latter kept in most exquisite order and constant bloom bymeans of a singular and original device. It seems that each separateplot of these grounds is owned or cared for by a different family of thecitizens, and that a spirit of emulation is thus excited by the effortof the several parties to make their special plot excel in its beautyand fragrance. This keeps the whole plaza in a lovely condition, andmakes it the pride of the city.

Society and business circles are mostly composed of foreigners, theGerman element largely predominating. The native, or humbler classes, aswe have already intimated, are a wretchedly low people. They "wake"their dead before burial, much after the style which prevails inIreland, except that the process is more exaggerated in manner. Drinkingand debauchery characterize these occasions, which are continued oftenfor three days at a time, or so long as the means for indulgence inexcess last. In case of youthful deaths, the child's cheeks are paintedred, and the head is crowned in a fantastic manner, the body beingdressed and placed in a sitting position, thus forming a strange andhideous sight. Such treatment of a corpse could only be tolerated by abarbarous people. In the environs of the town, Lazarus 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, theinhabitants half-naked and wholly starved, if one may judge by theirappearance. On Saturday, which in Spanish towns and cities is called"poor day," the streets of Concepcion are full of either assumed or realmendicants. The Spanish race is one of chronic beggars,—they seemborn so. Scarcely less of a nuisance than the beggars are the army ofhalf-starved, mongrel, neglected dogs, that throng in the streets of thecity, rivaling Constantinople.

It should be mentioned that Concepcion has a good system of tramwayservice, and that the cars have attached to them a class of neat,pretty, and modest girls for conductors, who wear natty straw hats, snowwhite aprons, and are supplied with a leather cash bag hung by a strapabout the neck. It seems rather incongruous that while so many evidencesof real progress abound in this city, water, the prime necessity oflife, should be peddled about the streets by the bucketful. Now is thetime to perfect a system of drainage, and to introduce an adequatesupply of good water, from easily available sources.

The inexhaustible coal fields already mentioned, which are situatedbut a few miles away, must prove to be a lasting source of prosperity toConcepcion. They are far more important and valuable, all thingsconsidered, than a gold or silver mine near at hand would be. Indeed, itis found in the long run that the latter kind of mineral discoveries donot always tend to the material benefit of the community in which theyare found. The earth produces far more profitable crops than gold andprecious stones, even when considered in the most mercenary light. Thebusiness prospects of Concepcion, as we have pointed out in detail, areexceedingly promising. That the city is destined eventually to rivalValparaiso seems more than probable, and yet there is another side tothis favorable aspect thus presented, which it is not wise to ignore.True, the climate is equable and healthy, but that great drawback, theliability to earthquakes and tidal waves, still remains, like a dark,portending shadow. In spite of this startling possibility there issomething of a "boom" already instituted, at this writing, as to theprices of land in and about both the port and city of Concepcion. It isa fact that people will soon become calloused and heedless of almost anyfamiliar danger. Jack turns in and quickly falls to sleep, when thewatch below is called and relieves him from the deck, though the ship isin the midst of cyclone latitudes, and while a half-gale is blowing. Thepeople of Torre del Grecco, at the base of the volcano, do not sleep anyless soundly to-day because Pompeii was utterly destroyed by Vesuviuseighteen or nineteen centuries ago. The earthquake of 1835 first shookTalcahuano nearly to pieces, and then completed its destruction by atidal wave which swept what remained of it into the sea.

It goes without saying that most of the fruits and staple products ofthe tropics are to be found both at Concepcion and at the port ofTalcahuano. Each place we visit seems to have some specialty in thisline. Here, it is the watermelon. Favored by the soil and the climate,this fruit is developed to its maximum in weight, richness of flavor,and general perfection. They are sold cheap enough everywhere. A centavowill 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 drinkto the poor peons, who consume the fruit in quantities stronglysuggestive of cholera, dropsy, or some other dreadful illness. Any oneaccustomed to travel in our Southern States, in the right season of theyear, will have observed how voraciously the negro population, young andold, eat of the cheap, ripe crop of watermelons; but these SouthAmerican peons have a capacity for storage and digestion of this reallywholesome article, beyond all comparison. A child not more than tenyears of age will devour the ripe portion of a large melon in a fewminutes, and no ill effects seem to follow. An adult eats two at a mealwhich would weigh, we are afraid to say how much, but they areconsiderably larger than the average melons which are brought to NewEngland from the South. After all, the watermelon is healthful food,though it is more filling than nourishing. It will be remembered thatthe famous fasting individual, Dr. Tanner, after eating nothing forforty days and forty nights, took for his first article of nourishment,at the close of this time of fasting, half a watermelon, and that heretained and digested it successfully.

CHAPTER XV.

Valparaiso.—Principal South American Port ofthe Pacific.—A Good Harbor.—Tallest Mountain on thisContinent.—The Newspaper Press.—Warlike Aspect.—Girlsas Car Conductors.—Chilian Exports.—ForeignMerchants.—Effects of Civil War.—Gambling in PrivateHouses.—Immigration.—Culture of theGrape.—Agriculture.—Island of Juan Fernandez.

Valparaiso—"Vale of Paradise"—was thusfancifully named because of its assumed loveliness. True, it isbeautifully situated, and is a fine city of its class, located in anadmirable semicircular bay, not upon one, but upon many hills, backed bya crescent-shaped mountain range. But when one compares its harbor tothat of Naples, or Sydney in Australia, for picturesqueness of scenery,as is often done, it only provokes invidious remarks. The matchlessharbor of Rio Janeiro, on the eastern coast of the continent, alreadyfully described in these pages, is far more charming in general effectand in all of its surroundings, not to mention that it is more thantwenty times as large. Valparaiso is the principal seaport of Chili, andindeed, for the present, it is the main port of the entire west coast ofSouth America. By consulting the map it will be readily seen that Chilimust ever be a maritime nation, depending more upon an effective navythan an army. The possession of the national ships of war by theCongressional party in the revolution so lately terminated gave themvirtual control of the cities along the coast, at the outbreak of theémeute, and this means they employed against the Presidential party withthe most ruthless effect. They did not hesitate to savagely cannonadeand shell a city, though two thirds of the occupants were their ownfriends and supporters, provided it was held ostensibly, and for thetime being only, by the supporters of Balmaceda. The outrageousbombardment of Iquique is an instance in illustration of this charge.The Chilian delights to be cruel; it is his instinct to destroy and toplunder. He is by nature boastful, passionate, and headstrong. Thisdisposition seems to be born in the race, is in fact a matter ofheredity, fostered by bull-fights and kindred entertainments. But thecountry must now pay for the enormous destruction of property of whichthe directors of the civil war have been guilty. The European powershave already begun to send in their demands for damages done to theirnon-combatant merchants. England comes first with a bill calling forpayment of sixty million dollars. Spain, Italy, and Germany will follow.It is estimated that a hundred million dollars will be required tosettle these foreign demands. Chili must pay. There is no avoiding it.Reckless destruction will be found to be rather an expensive amusem*ntin future for these South Americans. Their outrageous and murderoustreatment of citizens of the United States who land upon their shore isalso like to cost them a heavy sum in way of penalty. The present is agood opportunity to teach them a salutary lesson. The Chilians will notbe in a hurry to repeat crimes which they find entail sure and swiftpunishment.

A majority of the population of Chili lives, as a rule, within a fewmiles of the sea, and her coast line extends from Cape Horn northwardover two thousand miles to the borders of Bolivia and Peru. With thisextraordinary length, she has an average width of hardly more than ahundred miles, bordered on the east by the western slope of the Andes,whose eastern side belongs to the Argentine Republic, and on the west bythe Pacific Ocean. The present estimated area of the republic is abouttwo hundred and twenty thousand square miles, containing a population ofconsiderably less than three millions, though its capacious territorycould be so divided as to make twenty-five states as large asMassachusetts. Sixteen hundred miles of steam railroads render theprincipal sections of Chili accessible to one another. The coast linehas from time to time been undergoing decided changes through volcanicaction. In 1822, after a visible commotion, the shore was permanentlyraised three feet at Valparaiso, and four feet at Quintere. This changeextended over an area of a hundred thousand miles. Another but lesserelevation took place in the same region in 1835.

There seems to be no accounting for the vagaries of a land subject tovolcanic influences.

The harbor of Valparaiso is well protected on the east, south, andwest, but it is open to the north, from which direction come very heavywinds and seas during a couple of months in the winter season, oftencausing serious casualties among the shipping which may chance to beanchored in the harbor. A "norther" is as much dreaded here as it is atVera Cruz and along the Gulf of Mexico generally.

The entrance to the harbor is on its north side, and is a mile inwidth, more or less. The flags of nearly all nations are seen here,though the Stars and Stripes are less frequently to be met with thanothers. The city lies at the base of the closely surrounding hills, upwhose sides and in the ravines the dwelling-houses have beenconstructed, tier above tier. Over all, further inland, looms thefrosted head of grand old Aconcagua, twenty-two thousand feet and morein height, believed to be the tallest mountain in the westernhemisphere. This mighty member of the Andean Cordillera is said to beninety miles away, but it is so lofty and dominant, as seen through theclear atmosphere, that it appears almost within cannon range. At thiswriting the harbor presents quite a warlike aspect. English, American,French, German, and Chilian men-of-war are anchored here, looking aftertheir several national interests, as affected by the civil war. Thebugle calls of the several ships, the morning and evening guns, thedisplay of naval bunting, together with the flitting hither and thitherof well-manned boats, all unite to form a gay and suggestive scene. TheChilian cruisers in the hands of the revolutionists would not hesitateto batter down any government buildings on the coast, destroyingincidentally the domestic residences and merchandise of non-combatants,were they not restrained by the presence of foreign flags and guns. WhenBalmaceda undertook by a proclamation to shut up the ports of Chili, anddeclared them blockaded, he was told by the several naval commanders onthe coast that he could not establish a paper blockade, and that if themerchant ships of their several countries were in any way interferedwith, he would have to fight somebody else besides the revolutionists.The ports were therefore kept as open to legitimate commerce as theyever were.

The author was disappointed at not being able to reach Santiago, thecapital of Chili, which is situated at the foot of the western slope ofthe Andes, nearly two thousand feet above tide-water. It is connectedwith Valparaiso by railway, and under ordinary circ*mstances can bereached in eight hours. The difficulties caused by the civil war, andthe suspicion with which all foreigners were regarded, proved impossibleto surmount without a protracted effort, and submitting to any amount ofred tape. Santiago was founded by one of Pizarro's captains, in 1541,and now contains about two hundred thousand inhabitants. There are someAmericans and many English resident in Santiago, together with Germansand Frenchmen, the foreigners being mostly merchants. We were told oftwo familiar statues which are to be seen in a public square of thecity, in front of the post-office. One represents George Washington, theother Abraham Lincoln, both of which were stolen from Lima during thelate conflict between Chili and Peru.

But this is a digression. Let us once more return to the commercialport of Valparaiso.

A considerable portion of this city has been reclaimed from the sea,and still more land suitable for the erection of business warehousesnear the shore is being added to this part of the town. Localenterprise, however, is pretty much suspended for the time being, owingto the disturbed condition of political affairs. The mountains near athand supply ample stone and soil for the purpose of extending the areaof this business portion of the town. Sixty or seventy years ago, thecity contained only a single street, on the edge of the harbor; to-dayit has all the appearance and belongings of a great commercial capital,and a population of a hundred and thirty thousand. Except Rio Janeiroand Buenos Ayres, we saw nowhere thoroughfares more full of energeticlife and business activity. The main avenue is the Calle Victoria, whichruns 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, whoseunited circulation exceeds thirty thousand copies. "El Mercurio" has theeminent respectability of age, having been published regularly for aperiod 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 attemptedas our North American journals exhibit daily. While on this subject, wemay add that there are no newspapers in Europe, or elsewhere, which willcompare with those of the United States in the average ability andjournalistic merit which characterizes them. We do not say this in aboastful spirit, but simply make the statement as an incontrovertiblefact.

Some of the business structures along the harbor front of Valparaisoare fine edifices architecturally, and many of the retail stores willcompare favorably with the average of ours in Washington Street, Boston.The elegant class of goods displayed in some of these establishmentsshows that the population is an habitually extravagant and free-livingone. We were told, by way of illustration, that millionaires were asplenty as blackberries before the late civil war, while many wealthymen, foreseeing the catastrophe which was about to occur, shrewdlyprepared for it, and by careful management saved their property intact.Many of the private houses on Victoria Street are spacious, elegant, andcostly, the occupants living in regal style, to support which must costa very heavy annual outlay. It appears that President Balmacedadiscovered, during the late struggle, where and how to lay his handsupon the resources of a few of these citizens, and that such hecompletely impoverished, under one pretext and another, using theirproperty to support his armed minions, and to swell the aggregate offunds which he sent for deposit in his own name to Europe. One or twocases of this sort were related to us in which the citizens were notonly made to give up the whole of their private property, but werefinally 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 aman who was guilty of such crimes, when at last brought to bay, findinghimself betrayed and deserted by his pretended friends, should haveblown out his own brains. The posthumous papers which he left, andwherein he tries to pose as a martyr, are simply a ludicrous failure.José Manuel Balmaceda was in the fifty-second year of his age when hecommitted suicide, and was at the time hiding for fear of the infuriatedcitizens of Santiago, who would certainly have hanged the would-bedictator without the least hesitation or formality, if they could havegot possession of his person.

The tramway-cars of Valparaiso are of the two-story pattern, likethose of Copenhagen and New Orleans, also found in many of the Europeancities. They have as conductors, like Concepcion, very pretty half-breedgirls, who appear to thoroughly understand their business, and tofulfill its requirements to universal satisfaction. If an intoxicated orunruly person appears on the cars, the conductress does not attemptpersonally to eject him. She has only to hold up her hand, and thenearest policeman, of whom there are always a goodly number about, jumpson to the car and settles the matter in short order. Girls were thusfirst employed in order that the men who ordinarily fill these placesmight be drafted into the army, during the late war between Chili andPeru, and as the system proved to be a complete success, it has beencontinued ever since. The fare charged on these tram-cars is five centsfor each inside passenger, and half that sum for the outside; and, as inParis, when the seats are all full, a little sign is shown upon the car,signifying that no more persons will be admitted, none being allowed tostand. The same rule is enforced in London, and the thought suggesteditself as to whether our West End Railway Company of Boston might nottake an important hint therefrom.

The ladies and gentlemen of the city are a well dressed class, theformer adopting Parisian costumes, and the gentlemen wearing a fulldress of dark broadcloth, with tall stove-pipe hats. The women of themore common class wear the national "manta," and the men the "poncha."The former is a dark, soft shawl which covers in part the head and faceof the wearer. The latter is a long, striped shawl, with a slit cut inthe centre, through which the head of the wearer is thrust. Nothingcould be more simple in construction than both of these garments, andyet they are somehow very picturesque.

As we have already intimated, it is soon learned, upon landing at anyport of the commercial world, what the staple products of theneighborhood are, by simply noting the visible merchandise made readyfor shipment. Here we have sugar, wool, and cotton prevailing over allother articles. Guano and nitrate, which also form specialties here, arerepresented, though the supply of the former is pretty much exhausted.The nitrate trade is controlled by an Englishman of large fortune,Colonel North, known here as the "Nitrate King." This valuablefertilizer is the deposit of the nitrate of soda in the beds of lakeslong since dried up, the waters of which originally contained insolution large quantities of this material. These lakes in olden timesreceived the flow of a great water-shed, and having no outlet, save byevaporation, accumulated and precipitated at the bottom the chemicalelements flowing into them from the surrounding country. The article isnow dug up and put through a certain process, then shipped to foreigncountries as a fertilizer, believed to put new heart into exhaustedsoil. England consumes an immense quantity of it annually, and manyships are regularly employed in its transportation.

The custom house, situated near the landing at Valparaiso, is asomewhat remarkable structure, having a long, low façade surmounted bytall, handsome towers. This is eminently the business part of the town,and is called "El Puerto." The larger share of the residences of themerchants and well-to-do citizens is situated on the hillsides, to reachwhich it is necessary to ascend long flights of steps. At certain pointselevators are also supplied by which access is gained to the upperportions of the town, after the fashion already described at Bahia, onthe east coast.

The majority of people doing business in Valparaiso are English, andEnglish is the almost universal language. Even the names upon the citysigns are suggestive in this direction. Among the public houses are the"Queen's Arms," the "Royal Oak," the "Red Lion," and so on. Besides anEnglish school, there are three churches belonging to that nationality.There are numerous free schools, both of a primary and advancedcharacter, an elaborately organized college, two or three theatres, andthe usual charitable establishments, including a public library. Theprincipal part of the city is lighted by electricity, and the telephoneis in general use. A special effort has lately been made to promote theeducation of the rising generation in Chili, and we know of no fieldwhere the endeavor would be more opportune. Such an effort is never outof place, but here it is imperatively called for. The almost universalignorance of the common people of Chili is deplorable, and littleimprovement can be hoped for as regards their moral or physicalcondition, except through the means of educating the youth of thecountry. A commissioner-general of education was appointed some timeago, who has already visited Europe and North America to study the bestmodern methods adopted in the public schools. This is a tangibleevidence of improvement which speaks for itself, and is a great strideof this people in the right direction. Of course the late politicalcrisis will greatly retard the hoped-for results, just as it will putChili back some years in her national progress, whatever may be thefinal outcome in other respects.

Gambling is a prevailing national trait in this country, by no meansconfined to any one class of the community. The street gamin plays forcopper centavos, while the pretentious caballero does the same for goldcoins. It is quite common in family circles, held to be veryaristocratic, to see the gaming table laid out every evening, asregularly as the table upon which the meals are served. Money in largesums is lost and won with assumed indifference in these private circles,whole fortunes being sometimes sacrificed at a single sitting. Gamblingseems to be held exempt from the censure of either church or state,since both officials and priests indulge in all sorts of games ofchance. There are the usual public lotteries always going on to temptthe poorer classes of the people, and to capture their hard-earnedwages.

One virtue must be freely accorded to the business centre of thiscity, namely, that of cleanliness, in which respect it is far in advanceof most of the capitals on the east coast of South America. Being thefirst seaport of any importance in the South Pacific, it is naturally aplace of call for European bound steamers coming from New Zealand andAustralia, as well as those sailing from Panama and San Francisco. Inview of the fact that six hundred and fifty thousand people emigratefrom Europe annually, seeking new homes in foreign lands, the Chiliangovernment, in common with some others of the South American states, hasfor several years past held forth the liberal inducement of substantialaid to all bona fide settlers from foreign countries. Each newcomer whois the head of a family is given two hundred acres of available land,together with lumber and other materials for building a comfortabledwelling-house, also a cart, a plough, and a reasonable amount of seedfor planting. Besides these favors which we have enumerated, some otherimportant considerations are offered. Only a small number, comparativelyspeaking, of emigrants have availed themselves of such liberal terms,and these have been mostly Germans. If such an offer were properlypromulgated and laid before the poor peasantry of Ireland and Spain andItaly, it would seem as though many of those people would hasten toaccept it in the hope of bettering their condition in life. Whether sucha result would follow emigration would of course depend upon many otherthings besides the liberality of the offer of the Chilian government.The Germans form a good class of emigrants, perhaps the best, oftenbringing with them considerable pecuniary means, together with habits ofindustry. The late civil war has put a stop to emigration for a periodat least, and will interfere with its success for some time to come, ifindeed Chili ever assumes quite so favorable a condition as she hassacrificed.

There are some districts, including Limache and Pauquehue, wheregrape culture has been brought to great perfection, and where it isconducted on a very large scale. Wine-making is thus taking its place asone of the prosperous industries of the country. The amount of thenative product consumed at home is very large, and a regular system ofexports to other South American ports has been established. All of themost important modes of culture, such as have been proven mostsuccessful in France and California, have been carefully adopted here.Tramways are laid to intersect the various parts of these extensivevineyards, to aid in the gathering and transportation of the ripe fruit,while the appliances for expressing the juice of the grape are equallywell systematized. One vineyard, belonging to the Consiño family, nearSantiago, covers some two hundred acres, closely planted with selectedvines from France, Switzerland, and California, the purpose being toretain permanently such grades as are found best adapted to the soil andthe climate of Chili. The white wines are the most popular here, but redBurgundy brands are produced with good success. The vines are trained ontriple lines of wires, stretched between iron posts, presenting anappearance of great uniformity, the long rows being planted about threeor four feet apart. Every arrangement for artificial irrigation isprovided, it being an absolute necessity in this district of Chili.Trenches are cut along the rows of vines, through which the water, fromample reservoirs, is permitted to flow at certain intervals;particularly when the grape begins to swell and ripen. The fruit is nottrodden here, as it is in Italy, but is thoroughly expressed by means ofproper machinery.

Geographically, Chili is, as we have intimated, a long, narrowcountry, lying south of Peru and Bolivia, ribbon-like in form, anddivided into nineteen provinces. It has been considerably enlarged byconquest from both of the nationalities just named; including theimportant territory of Terapaca. The name "Chili" signifies snow, withwhich the tops of most of the mountain ranges upon the eastern borderare always covered. Still, extending as she does, from latitude 24°south to Cape Horn, she embraces every sort of climate, from burningheat to glacial frosts, while nearly everything that grows can beproduced upon her soil. Though she has less than three millioninhabitants, still her territory exceeds that of any Europeannationality except Russia. The manifest difference between the aggregateof her population and that of her square miles does not speak veryfavorably for the healthful character of the climate. There is no use inattempting to disguise the fact that Chili has rather a hard time of it,with sweeping epidemics, frequent earthquakes, and devouring tidalwaves. The country contains thirty volcanoes, none of which arepermanently active, but all of which have their periods of eruption, andmost of which exhibit their dangerous nature by emitting sulphuroussmoke and ashes. The unhygienic condition of life among her native racesaccounts for the large death-rate prevailing at all times, andespecially among the peon children, thus preventing a natural increasein the population. Unless a liberal immigration can be induced, Chilimust annually decrease in population. As regards the foreign whites andthe educated natives who indulge in no extravagant excesses, living witha reasonable regard for hygiene, doubtless Chili is as healthy as mostcountries, but there is still to be remembered the erratic exhibitionsof nature, a possibility always hanging like the sword of Damocles overthis region. A whole town may, without the least warning, vanish fromthe face of the earth in the space of five minutes, or be left a mass ofruins.

It is in the districts of the north that the rich mines and thenitrate fields are found, but the central portion of the country, andparticularly towards the south, is the section where the greatestagricultural results are realized, and which will continue to yield inabundance after the mineral wealth shall have become quite exhausted.The southern portion of the country embraces Patagonia, which has latelybeen divided between Chili and the Argentine Republic. In short, Chiliis no exception to the rule that agriculture, and not mining products,is the true and permanent reliance of any country.

A little less than four hundred miles off the shore of Valparaiso, onthe same line of latitude, is the memorable island of Juan Fernandez. Itis politically an unimportant dependence of Chili, though of late yearsit has indirectly been made the means of producing some income for thenational treasury. There was a period in which Chili maintained a penalcolony here, but the convicts mutinied, and massacred the officers whohad charge of them. These convicts succeeded in getting away from theisland on passing ships. No attempt has been made since that time toreëstablish a penal colony on this island. To-day the place is occupiedby thriving vegetable gardeners, and raisers of stock. Every intelligentyouth will remember the island as the spot where De Foe laid the sceneof his popular and fascinating story of "Robinson Crusoe." The island isabout twenty miles long by ten broad, and is covered with dense tropicalverdure, gentle hills, sheltered valleys, and thrifty woods. JuanFernandez resembles the Azores in the North Atlantic. Though generallyspoken of in the singular, there are actually three islands here,forming a small, compact group, known as Inward Island, Outward Island,and Great Island. Many intelligent people think that the story ofRobinson Crusoe is a pure fabrication, but this is not so. De Foeavailed himself of an actual occurrence, and put it into readable form,adding a few romantic episodes to season the story for the taste of themillion. It was in a measure truth, which he stamped with the image ofhis own genius. Occasionally some enthusiastic admirer of De Foe comesthousands of miles out of the beaten track of travel to visit this groupof islands, by the way of Valparaiso. Grapes, figs, and other tropicalfruits abound at Juan Fernandez. It is said that several thousand peoplemight be easily supported by the natural resources of these islands, andthe abundance of fish which fill the neighboring waters. An Englishnaval commander stopped here in 1741, to recruit his ships' crews, andto repair some damages. While here he caused various seeds to be plantedfor the advantage of any mariners who might follow. The benefit of thisChristian act has been realized by many seamen since that date. Fruits,grain, and vegetables are now produced by spontaneous fertilityannually, which were not before to be found here. The English commanderalso left goats and swine to run wild, and to multiply, and theseanimals are numerous there to-day.

Juan Fernandez has one tall peak, nearly three thousand feet high,which the pilots point out long before the rest of the island is seen.It was from this lofty lookout that Alexander Selkirk was wont to watchdaily in the hope of sighting some passing ship, by which he might bereleased from his imprisonment. There are about one hundred residentsupon the group to-day, it having been leased by the Chilian governmentas a stock ranch for the breeding of goats and cattle, as well as forthe raising of vegetables for the market of Valparaiso. There are saidto be thirty thousand horned cattle, and many sheep, upon these islands.Occasional excursion parties are made up at Valparaiso to visit thegroup by steamboat, for the purpose of shooting seals and mountaingoats. Stories are told of Juan Fernandez having been formerly made theheadquarters of pirates who came from thence to ravage the towns on thecoast of the continent, and it is believed by the credulous that much ofthe ill-gotten wealth of the buccaneers still remains hidden there. Insearch of this supposititious treasure, expeditions have been fitted outin past years at Valparaiso, and many an acre of ground has been vainlydug over in seeking for piratical gold, supposed to be buried there.Some of the shrewd stock raisers of Juan Fernandez are ready, for aconsideration, to point out to seekers the most probable places wheresuch treasures might have been buried.

CHAPTER XVI.

The Port of Callao.—A SubmergedCity.—Peruvian Exports.—A Dirty and UnwholesomeTown.—Cinchona Bark.—The Andes.—The Llama.—ANational Dance.—City of Lima.—An Old and InterestingCapital.—Want of Rain.—Pizarro and His Crimes.—A GrandCathedral.—Chilian Soldiers.—Costly Churches ofPeru.—Roman Catholic Influence.—Desecration of theSabbath.

The passage northward from Valparaiso to Callao occupiesabout four days by the steamers which do not stop at intermediate ports.We entered the harbor in the early morning while a soft veil of mistenshrouded the bay, but as the sun fairly shone upon the view, thisaerial screen rapidly disappeared, revealing Callao just in front of us,making the foreground of a pleasing and vivid picture, the middledistance filled by the ancient city of Lima, and the far background byalpine ranges. Callao is an ill-built though important town, with apopulation of about thirty thousand, and serves as the port for Lima,the capital of Peru. It has a good harbor, well protected by the islandof San Lorenzo, which, with the small island of El Fronton, and thePalminos reef, forms a protection against the constant swell of theocean. There are nearly always one or two ships of war belonging toforeign nations in the harbor, and large steamships from the north orthe south. The sailing distance from Panama is fifteen hundred miles.The Callao of to-day is comparatively modern. Old Callao formerly stoodon a tongue of land opposite San Lorenzo, but in 1746 an earthquakesubmerged it and drowned some five thousand of the inhabitants,foundered a score of ships, and stranded a Spanish man-of-war. In calmweather one can row a boat over the spot where the old city stood, andsee the ruins far down in the deep waters. The present city has twicebeen near to sharing the same fate: once in 1825, and again in 1868. Itis, therefore, not assuming too much to say that Callao may at any timedisappear in the most summary fashion. The sunken ruins in the harborare a melancholy and suggestive sight, the duplicate of which we do notbelieve can be found elsewhere on the globe. Though seismic disturbancesare of such frequent occurrence, and are so destructive on the westcoast of South America, they are hardly known on the Atlantic or easternside of the continent. That they are frequently coincident with volcanicdisturbances indicates that there is an intimate connection betweenthem, but yet earthquakes often occur in regions where volcanoes do notexist. This was the case, not long since, as most of our readers willremember, in South Carolina. It has been noticed by careful observersthat animals become uneasy on the eve of such an event, which would seemto show that earthquakes sometimes owe their origin to extraordinaryatmospheric conditions.

San Lorenzo is about six miles from Callao, and is four miles long byone in width. It is utterly barren, presenting a mass of brownish graycolor, eleven hundred feet high, at whose base there is ever a broad,snow white ruffle, caused by the never-ceasing ocean swell breaking intofoam. An English smelting company has established extensive works nearthe shore of the island, for the reduction of silver and copper ores.The approach to Callao from the sea affords a fine view of theundulating shore, backed by the snowy Cordilleras, the shabby buildingsof the town, with the dismantled castle of San Felipe forming theforeground. In landing one must be cautious: there is alwaysconsiderable swell in the harbor.

The staple products of this region are represented by packages ofmerchandise prepared for shipment, and which are the first to attractone's attention upon landing, such as cinchona bark from the nativeforests, piles of wheat in bulk, hides, quantities of crude salt, sugarpacked in dried banana leaves, bales of alpaca wool, and, mostsuggestive of all, some heavy bags of silver ore. Little is being donein mining at present, though the field for this industry is large. Thedifficulty of transportation is one of the great drawbacks, yet Peru hasover a thousand miles of railways in her rather limited area. Gold,platinum, silver, and copper are all found in paying quantities. Coaland petroleum also exist here, in various inland districts. The guanodeposits, which have yielded so much wealth to Peru in the past, arepractically exhausted, while the nitrate-producing province of Tarapacahas been stolen by Chili, to which it now belongs. It is thought thatthe nitrate deposits can be profitably worked for fifty years tocome.

A crowd of the lazy, ragged population were loafing about thelanding, watching the strangers as they came on shore at the wet andslippery stone steps.

It is very plain that the great importance of Callao has departed,though there is still an appearance of business activity. Not long ago,a hundred vessels at a time might be seen at anchor inside of SanLorenzo; now, a score of good-sized ships are all one can count. This isowing to various causes: an unreasonable high tariff is one of them,exorbitant port charges is another, and the general depression ofbusiness on the west coast is felt quite as strongly here as at any ofthe ports. Like Santos, on the other side of the continent, Callao isever an unhealthy resort, where a great mortality prevails in the feverseason. The absence of good drainage and inattention to hygienic ruleswill in part account for the bad repute that the port has among theshipping masters who frequent the coast. The streets are particularlymalodorous about the water front. The dirty vultures seem to be dependedupon to remove offensive garbage.

A certain remarkable occurrence sometimes takes place in this harbor,which, so far as the writer knows, is without precedent elsewhere. Aship may come in from sea and anchor at about sunset, in good order andcondition, everything being white and clean on board, but when hercaptain comes on deck the next morning, he may find that his ship hasbeen painted, inside and out, a dark chocolate color during the night,the atmosphere at the same time being impregnated with a peculiar odor,arising from this "paint," or whatever it may be, which clingstenaciously to every object, wood or iron. While it is damp and freshlydeposited, it can be removed like fresh paint, but if it is permitted todry, it is as difficult to remove as ordinary dried paint would be. Noone can tell the origin of this nuisance, but most seamen whose businessbrings them to Callao have been through this experience. Of course itmust be an atmospheric deposit, but from whence? It has never been knownto occur upon the neighboring land, but only in the harbor. Scientistshave given the matter their attention, and have concluded that it may becaused by sulphurous gases produced in the earth below the water, whichrise to the surface and disseminate themselves in the surroundingatmosphere.

From any elevated point in the city one may enjoy a delightful view,the main features of which are the Andes on the land side, and seaward,the broad heaving bosom of the Pacific. The corrugated peaks of theformer, clad in white, seem like restless phantoms marching through thesky. Over the latter, long lines of inky blackness trail behind northernor southern bound steamers, while here and there a tall, full-riggedship recalls the older modes of navigation.

The smoother water inside of San Lorenzo is alive with small boats,some under sails, some propelled by oars, shooting in and out among theshipping which lie at anchor before the town. A pair of large whalesassisted at this scene for our special benefit, just inside the harbor'smouth. It must have been only play on their part,—leviathans atplay,—but they threw up the sea in such clouds of spray with theirbroad tails, as to make it appear like a battle-royal seen from a mileaway.

We mentioned the fact of seeing cinchona bark in bales ready forshipping. Of all the products of South America, gold, silver, andprecious stones included, the most valuable is the drug which is calledquinine, made from the bark of the cinchona tree. There is no other onearticle known to the materia medica which has been used in such largequantities or with such unvarying success by suffering humanity. It wasfirst introduced into Europe from Peru, and was then known as Peruvianbark. It was supposed at that time to be found only in this section ofthe continent; but subsequently it was discovered to abound in all theforests along the course of the Andes, and especially on their westernslope. So large has been its export that it was found the source ofsupply was rapidly becoming exhausted, until local governments awoke tothe importance of the matter, and protected by law the trees whichproduce it. These are no longer ruthlessly cut down to die, whenyielding their valuable harvest, but only a certain quantity of thedesirable bark is taken from each tree annually, so that nature replacesthe portion which had been removed, by covering the trunk with a freshgrowth. The cinchona tree, having been transplanted from South America,is now successfully cultivated in the islands of the Malacca Straits,Ceylon, India, and other tropical regions.

The tree which produces this valuable febrifuge belongs to the samefamily as the coffee plant. In appearance it is very like our nativebeech tree, having remarkably white wood.

The llama is found nearly all over South America, and is often seenas a beast of burden at Callao, taking the place here which the donkeyor burro fills in Mexico. It has been described as having the head andneck of a camel, the body of a deer, the wool of a sheep, and the neighof a horse. We do not agree with those who pronounce the llama anawkward creature. True, the body is a little ungainly, but the head, thegraceful pose, the pointed, delicate ears, and the large, lustrous eyesare absolutely handsome. It can carry a burden weighing one hundredpounds over hard mountain roads, day after day, while living upon veryscanty food. It is slow in its movements, patient when well treated, andparticularly sure-footed. It is of a very gentle disposition, but whenit finds the weight placed upon its back too heavy, like the Egyptiancamel, it immediately lies down and will not rise until the load islightened. The llama, or "mountain camel," as it has been aptly called,is the only domesticated native animal. The horse, ox, hog, and sheepare all importations which were entirely unknown here four centuriesago. The llama has two notable peculiarities: when angry it willexpectorate at its enemy, and when hurt will shed tears. Theexpectoration is of an acrid, semi-poisonous nature, and if it strikesthe eyes will, it is said, blind them. The llama, guanaco, alpaca, andvicuña were the four sheep of the Incas, the wool of the first clothingthe common people; the second, the nobles; the third, the royalgovernors; and the fourth the Incas. The first two are domesticated,guanacos and vicuñas are wild, though they all belong to the samefamily.

The manners and customs of any people new to the traveler are alwaysan interesting study, but in nothing are they more stronglyindividualized than in the pursuit of amusem*nts. A favorite dance,known here as the zama cueca, is often witnessed out-of-doors inretired corners of the plaza or the alameda, as well as elsewhere. Itrequires two performers, and is generally danced by a male and female,being not unlike the Parisian cancan, both in the movement and thepurpose of the expression. The two dancers stand opposite each other,each having a pocket handkerchief in the right hand, while the musicbegins at first a dull, monotonous air, which rapidly rises and falls incadence. The dancers approach each other, swaying their bodiesgracefully, and using their limbs nimbly; now they pass each other,turning in the act to coquettishly wave the handkerchief about theirheads, and also to snap it towards each other's faces. Thus they advanceand retreat several times, whipping at each other's faces, whilethrowing their bodies into peculiar attitudes. Again they resume thefirst movement of advance and retreat, one assuming coyness, the otherardor, and thus continue, until, as a sort of climax, they fall intoeach other's arms with a peal of hearty laughter. A guitar is the usualaccompanying instrument, the player uttering the while a shrillimpromptu chant. When a male dancer joins in this street performance, asis sometimes the case, it is apt to be a little coarse and vulgar.

There is very little in Callao to detain us, and one is quite readyto hasten on to Lima, the capital of Peru, hoping to escape the stenchand universal dirtiness of the port.

The city of Lima has at this writing about one hundred and sixtythousand inhabitants, and is situated six miles from Callao, itsshipping port, with which it is connected by two rival railways. Theseroads are constructed upon an up-grade the whole distance, but the riseis so gradual as to be almost imperceptible, though Lima is over fivehundred feet higher than Callao. The capital, which is clearly visiblefrom the water as we enter the harbor, presents from that distance, andeven from a much nearer point of view, a most pleasing picture, beingfavorably situated on elevated ground, with its many spires and domesstanding forth in bold relief. It has, when seen from such a distance, acertain oriental appearance, charming to the eye of a stranger. But itis deceptive; it is indeed distance which lends enchantment in thiscase, for upon arriving within its precincts one is rudely undeceived.The apparently grand array of architecture on near inspection proves tobe flimsy and poor in detail: everything is bamboo frame and plaster; noedifice is solid above the basem*nt. Still, one can easily imagine howattractive the place must have been in those viceregal days, the periodof its false glory and prosperity. The capital stands almost at the veryfoot of the Cordillera which forms the coast range, and is built uponboth sides of the Rimac, over which stretches a substantial stone bridgeof six arches, very old and very homely, but all the more interestingbecause it is so venerable. The width of the river at this point is overfive hundred feet. In the winter season it is a very moderate stream,but when the summer sun asserts itself, the snow upon the neighboringmountains yields to its warmth, and the Rio Rimac then becomes an alpinetorrent. It is like the Arno at Florence, which at certain seasons hasthe form of a river without the circulation. The anecdote is told hereof a Yankee visitor to Lima who was being shown over the city by apatriotic citizen, and who on coming to this spot remarked to hischaperon: "You ought either to buy a river or sell this bridge."

At the entrance of this ancient structure stands a lofty and veryeffective archway, with two tall towers, and a clock in a centralelevation. Prominent over the arched entrance to the roadway is themotto Dios y La Patria,—"God and Country." Nothing in Limais of more interest than this hoary, unique, moss-grown bridge.

One pauses before the crumbling yet still substantial old structureto recall the vivid scenes which must have been enacted in the long,long past upon its roadway. Here madly contending parties have spilledeach other's blood, hundreds of gaudy church processions have crossedthese arches, bitter civil and foreign wars have raged about the bridge,dark conspiracies have been whispered and ripened here, solitary murderscommitted in the darkness of night, and lifeless bodies thrown from itsparapet; but the dumb witness still remains intact, having endured morethan three hundred years of use and abuse.

It is not necessary to unpack one's waterproof or umbrella in Lima.It never rains here, any more than it does in the region of Aden, at themouth of the Red Sea. All vegetable growth is more or less dependentupon artificial irrigation, and in the environs where this isjudiciously applied the orange and lemon trees are heavy with goldenfruit, forming a rich contrast with the deep green of the luxuriantplantain, the thick, lance-like agave, and the prolific banana. The cityand its environs would be as poorly off without the water of the Rimacas would the Egyptians if deprived of the annual overflow of thefertilizing Nile. Though the river is so inconsiderable at certainseasons, still it does supply a certain quantity of water always, whichis improved to the utmost. Dews some times prevail at night, so heavy asto be of partial benefit, giving to vegetation a breath of moisture, andtaking away the dead dryness of the atmosphere. This, however favorablefor vegetation, is considered unwholesome for humanity. The flowers andshrubbery of the plaza droop for want of water, and are only preservedby great care on the part of those in charge of them. In some of theprivate gardens the pashinba palm-tree is seen, very peculiar in itsgrowth, being mounted as it were upon stilts, formed by the exposedstraight roots which radiate, like a series of props, to support thetall trunk. At its apex is a singular, spear-like stem, pointingstraight skyward, without leaf or branch, just beneath which are thegraceful, long, curved palm leaves, exquisite in proportions, bendinglike ostrich feathers. At first sight this tree looks like an artificialproduction, in which nature has taken no part. Lying only twelve degreessouth of the equator, Lima has a tropical climate, but being also closeto the foothills of the Andes, she is near to a temperate district, sothat her market yields the fruits and vegetables of two zones.

Pizarro, the ambitious and intrepid conqueror of Peru, hereestablished his capital in 1535, and here ended his days in 1541, dyingat the hands of the assassin, the natural and retributive end of a lifeof gross bigotry, sensuality, recklessness, and almost unparalleledcruelty. In a narrow street,—the Callejon dePetateron,—leading out of the Plaza Mayor, a house is pointed outas being the one in which Pizarro was assassinated. Both Pizarro in Peruand Cortez in Mexico owed their phenomenal success to exceptionalcirc*mstances, namely, to the civil wars which prevailed among thenative tribes of the countries they invaded. By shrewdly directing theseintestine troubles so as to aid their own purposes, each commander inhis special field achieved complete victory over races which, thusdisunited and pitted against each other, fell an easy prey to thecunning invaders. Neither of these adventurers had sufficient strengthto contend against a united and determined people. Such an enemy on hisown ground would have swept the handful of Spaniards led by Pizarro fromthe face of the earth by mere force of numbers.

Soon after its foundation, Lima became the most luxurious andprofligate of the viceregal courts of Spain, and so continued until itsdeclaration of independence, and final separation from the mothercountry. The most worthless and restless spirits about the throne ofSpain were favored in a desire to join Pizarro in the New World. Thehome government, while purging itself of so undesirable an element,added to the recklessness and utter immorality which reigned in theatmosphere of Lima. Forty-three successive viceroys ruled Peru duringthe Spanish occupancy. The nefarious Inquisition, steeped in the bloodof helpless and innocent natives, was active here long after itsdecadence in Madrid, while the local churches, convents, and monasteriesaccumulated untold wealth by a system of arbitrary taxation, andiniquitous extortion exercised towards the native race. What bettercould have been expected from Pizarro than to inaugurate and foster sucha state of affairs? Under the influence of designing priests andlascivious monks, he was as clay in the potter's hands, being originallyonly an illiterate swineherd, one who could neither read nor write. Thestate documents put forth during his viceregency, still preserved and tobe seen in the archives of Lima, show that he could only affix his mark,not even attempting to write his own name. Though Charles V. finallyindorsed and ennobled him with the title of Marques de la Conquista, andappointed him viceroy of the conquered country, he was still and everthe illegitimate, low-bred hind of Truxillo in continental Spain. Thepalace of this man, who, with the exception of Cortez, was the greatesthuman butcher of the age in which he lived, is still used for governmentoffices, while the senate occupies the council chamber of the oldInquisition building, infamous for the bloody work done within itswalls. H. Willis Baxley, M. D., the admirable author, writes on the spotas follows: "When the apologists of Pizarro attempt to shield hiscrimes, and excuse his acts of cruelty by his religious zeal and holypurpose of extending the dominion of the cross, they may well beanswered that the religion was unworthy of adoption which required forits extension that the wife of the Inca Manco, then a prisoner inPizarro's power, should be 'stripped naked, bound to a tree, and inpresence of the camp be scourged with rods, and then shot to death witharrows!' This cold-blooded brutality, and to a woman, should brand hisname with eternal infamy."

As we have intimated, Lima, like Constantinople, looks at its bestfrom a distance, viewed so that the full and combined effect of its manydomes and spires can be taken in as a whole; but whether near to it orfar from it, few places in South America possess more poetical andhistorical interest. Its past story reads like an Arabian Nights' tale.Though the city is by no means what it has been, and wears anunmistakable air of decayed greatness, and though foreign invaders andcivil wars have done their worst, Lima is still an extremely attractivemetropolis. Even the vandalism of the late Chilian invaders, whooutraged all the laws of civilized warfare (if there is any such thingas civilized warfare), regardless of the rights of non-combatants, couldnot obliterate her natural attractions and historical associations. TheChilian soldiers destroyed solely for the sake of destroying, mutilatedstatuary and works of art generally, besides burning historicaltreasures and libraries; and yet these Chilians claim to be the highesttype of modern civilization on the southern continent. They strove toruin whatever they could not steal and carry away with them from Peru,and, almost incredible to record, they wantonly killed the elephant inthe zoölogical garden of Lima, and purloined the small animals. Noble,chivalrous Chilians! The rank and file of these people are the veryembodiment of ignorance and brutality. The Chilian soldier carries, as aregular weapon, a curved knife called a curvos, with which hecuts the throats of his enemies. At close quarters, instead of fightingman-fashion, as nearly all other nations do, he springs like a fiercebull-dog at his opponent's throat, and with his curvos cuts it from earto ear. After a battle, bands of these fiends in human shape go over thefield, seeking out the wounded who are still alive, deliberately cuttingtheir throats, and robbing their bodies of all valuables. It is Chiliantactics to take no prisoners, give no quarter. These brave soldierswould have burned Lima to the ground after gaining possession, had itnot been for the interference of the foreign ministers, who had nationalmen-of-war at Callao with which to back their arguments. Theseguerrillas—for that is just about what the Chilian soldiersare—knew full well that if even a small European battalion ofdisciplined men were landed and brought against them, they would simplybe swept from the face of the earth.

Lima is laid out with the streets in rectangular form, the centralpoint being the Plaza Mayor, in the shape of a quadrangle, each side ofwhich is five hundred feet in length. On the north side of thisadmirably arranged square stand the buildings occupied as governmentoffices, together with the bishop's palace, and the cathedralovershadowed by its two lofty towers. The corner-stone of this edificewas laid by Pizarro with great ceremony. The spires, although presentingsuch an effective appearance, are constructed of the most frailmaterial, such as bricks, stucco, and bamboo frames, but still, as awhole, they are undeniably imposing. In this dry climate they are,perhaps, enduring also. Like the façade of the church of St. Roche, inParis, this of the Lima cathedral is marked by bullet-holescommemorating the Chilian invasion. The church is raised six or eightfeet above the level of the plaza, as is usual in South America,standing upon a marble platform, reached by broad steps, well calculatedto enhance the really graceful proportions, and add to the effect of itsbroad, high towers. The interior is quite commonplace, with the usualtinsel, poor carvings, and wretched oil paintings, including severalgrotesque Virgin Marys. These were too poor even for the Chilians tosteal. Beneath the grand altar rest the ashes of Pizarro, the cruel,ambitious, reckless tool of the Romish Church. The cathedral was builtin 1540, but has undergone complete repairs and renovations from time totime, being still considered to be one of the most imposingecclesiastical edifices in America. Its original cost is said to havebeen nine million dollars, to obtain which Pizarro robbed the Incatemples of all their elaborate gold and silver ornaments. According toPrescott, the Spaniards took twenty-four thousand, eight hundred poundsof gold, and eighty-two thousand ounces of silver from a single Incatemple! Prescott is careful in his statements to warn us of theunreliability of the Spanish writers, nearly all of whom were Romishpriests. Where figures are concerned they cannot be depended upon for amoment. They also took special care to cover up the fiendish atrocitiesof the Inquisition, and the extortions of the church as exercisedtowards the poor, down-trodden native race.

One's spirits partook of the sombre and austere atmosphere whichreigns at all times in this ancient edifice. It was very lonely. Not asoul was to be seen during our brief visit to the cathedral at noonday,except a couple of decrepit old beggars at the entrance, the faint, dullglare of the burning candles about the altar only serving to deepen theshadows and emphasize the darkness.

The area of the Plaza Mayor embraces eight or nine acres of land, andhas often been the theatre of most sanguinary scenes, where hand-to-handfights have frequently taken place between insurgent citizens andsoldiers of the ruling power of the day, while many unpopular officialshave been hanged in the towers of the cathedral, from each of whichprojects a gibbet! The middle of the plaza is beautified by a bronzefountain with arboreal and floral surroundings. There was formerly somestatuary here, which the brave Chilians stole and carried away withthem, even purloining the iron benches, which they transported toValparaiso and Santiago. The streets running from this square, with theexception of the Calle de los Mercaderes, have an atmosphere ofantiquity, which contrasts with the people one meets in them. Even theturkey buzzards, acting as street scavengers, are of an antique species,looking quite gray and dilapidated, as though they were a hundred yearsold. In Vera Cruz the same species of bird, kept for a similar purpose,have a brightness of feather, and jauntiness withal, quite unlike thesefeathered street-cleaners of Lima. The "Street of the Merchants," justreferred to, is the fashionable shopping thoroughfare of Lima, where inthe afternoons the ladies and gentlemen are seen in goodly numberspromenading in full dress.

There is here the usual multiplicity of churches, convents, andnunneries, such as are to be found in all Spanish cities, though thelatter establishments have been partially suppressed. Some of thechurches of Lima are fabulously expensive structures; indeed, the amountof money squandered on churches and church property in this city ismarvelous. During the late war many articles of gold and silver,belonging to them, were melted into coin, but some were hidden, and haveonce more been restored to their original position in the churches. Theconvent and church of San Francisco form one of the most costly groupsof buildings of the sort in America. The ornamental tiles of theflooring are calculated, not by the square yard, but by the acre. Thereare over a hundred Roman Catholic churches in Lima, few of which haveany architectural beauty, but all of which are crowded with vulgar waxfigures, wooden images, and bleeding saints. These churches in severalinstances have very striking façades: that of La Merced, for instance;but they are mere shams, as we have already said,—stucco andplaster; they would not endure the wear of any other climate for asingle decade.

With all this outside religious show in Lima, there is nocorresponding observance of the sacred character of the Sabbath. It isheld rather as a period of gross license and indulgence, and devoted tobull-fights, co*ck-fighting, and drunkenness. The lottery-ticket venderreaps the greatest harvest on this occasion, and the gambling saloonsare all open. Children pursue their every-day sports with increasedardor, and the town puts on a gala day aspect. At night the streets areablaze, the theatres are crowded, and dissipation of every conceivablesort waxes fast and furious until long past midnight. The ignorant massgenerally has drifted into observing the rituals of the Romish Church,but there are many of the native Indians in Peru who cherish a belief ofa millennium in the near future; a time when the true prophet of the sunwill return and restore the grand old Inca dynasty. Just so the Moors ofTangier hold to the belief that the time will yet come when they will berestored to the glory of their fathers, and to their beloved Granada;that the halls of the Alhambra will once more resound to the Moorishlute, and the grand cathedral of Cordova shall again become a mosque ofthe true faith.

The fact that the bull-ring of Lima will accommodate sixteen thousandpeople, and that it is always well filled on Sundays, speaks for itself.At these sanguinary performances a certain class of women appear inlarge numbers and in full dress, entering heartily into the spirit ofthe occasion, and waving their handkerchiefs furiously to applaud theactors in the tragedy, while the exhibitions are characterized by evenmore cruelty than at Madrid or Havana.

CHAPTER XVII.

A Grand Plaza.—Retribution.—TheUniversity of Lima.—Significance of AncientPottery.—Architecture.—Picturesque Dwelling.—DomesticScene.—Destructive Earthquakes.—Spanish Sway.—Women ofLima.—Street Costumes.—Ancient Bridge ofLima.—Newspapers.—Pawnbrokers'Shops.—Exports.—An Ancient Mecca.—Home by Way ofEurope.

The large square in Lima, known as Plazuela de laIndependencia, is grand in its proportions. One prominent feature is thebronze statue of Bolivar, the famous South American patriot. It alsocontains the old palace of the Inquisition, which looks to-day more likea stable than a palace. This detestable institution attained to greaterscope and power here than it did even in Mexico. According to its ownrecords, during its existence in the capital of Peru, fifty-nine personswere publicly burned alive as heretics, because they would notacknowledge the Roman Catholic faith, thousands were tortured until intheir agony they agreed to anything, while thousands were publiclyscourged to the same end. Could the truth be fully known as regards thebigoted reign of the priesthood at the time referred to in Peru, itwould form one of the most startling chapters of modern history. Butthey were their own chroniclers, and suppressed everything which mightpossibly reflect upon themselves or upon their church. Retribution wasslow, but it has come finally. The former convent of Guadeloupe is nowoccupied for a worthy object as a high school; the main portion of thecloisters of San Francisco have made way for the college of San Marco;that of San Carlos has supplanted the Jesuits; San Juan de Dios is nowoccupied as a railway station; while the once famous and infamousconvent of Santa Catalina serves to-day as the public market.

The University of Lima was the first seat of education established inthe New World, or, to fix the period more clearly in the averagereader's mind, it dates from about seventy years before the historicMayflower reached the shore of New England. The National Librarycontains some forty thousand volumes, also a collection of Peruvianantiquities, besides many objects of natural history, mostly of suchexamples as are indigenous to this section. There is one large oilpainting in this building by a native artist named Monteros, the canvasmeasuring thirty by twenty feet. The title is "Obsequies of Atahualpa."This was carried away by the thieving Chilians, but was finally restoredto Peru. It should be mentioned, to their lasting shame, that the bookswhich they stole at the same time have not been returned.

The ancient pottery one sees in the collection of Peruvianantiquities is wonderfully like that to be found in the Boulak Museum atCairo, in Egypt, Etruscan and Egyptian patterns prevailing over allother forms, which strongly suggests a common origin. Besides thosewhich we have named, there are several other educational and artinstitutions in the city, together with three hospitals, two lunaticasylums, a college of arts, and the National Mint. One hospital, bearingthe name of the Second of May Hospital, is a very large and thoroughlyequipped establishment, occupying a whole square, and havingaccommodations for seven hundred patients. There are four theatres, oneof which is conducted by the Chinese after their own peculiar fashion.The outsides of the dwelling-houses are painted in various brilliantcolors, a practice which is found to prevail all over the southerncontinent, and which exhibits an inherent love among the people forwarm, bright hues. The roofs of most houses serve as a depository forhens and chickens, noisy gameco*cks especially asserting themselvesbefore daybreak, forbidding all ideas of morning naps, unless one isaccustomed to the din. Many of the dwellings are picturesque andattractive, with overhanging balconies and bay windows, the latteroftentimes finished very elaborately with handsome wood carvings andopen-work lattices. As to the prevailing style of architecture, it isSpanish and Moorish combined, each building being constructed about acentral patio, which is often rendered lovely with flowers and statuary,together with small orange and lemon trees in large painted tubs.

The abundance of cracks in the walls of the dwellings, both insideand out, is a significant hint that we are in an earthquake country. Aslight shake is hardly spoken of at all; they come so often as to becomparatively unheeded.

In the environs of Lima the houses are built of adobe, rarely overone story in height, with very thick walls, this style having been foundthe best to resist the earthquakes, which must be very serious indeed toaffect a low adobe house with walls two feet and a half thick. Aboutthese residences, which, not to put too fine a point upon the matter,are really nothing but mud cabins, there is often seen an attractive andrefining feature, namely, small, but exceedingly pretty plots ofcultivated flowers. It is astonishing how perfectly they serve to throwa flavor of refinement over all things else. The variety and fragranceof the Lima roses are something long to be remembered, and the peoplehere seem to have a special love for this most popular of flowers. Wehad missed them nearly everywhere else in South America; therefore theywere thrice welcome when they greeted us at Lima.

There is a dwelling-house in this city belonging to an old and richfamily, which is worth a pilgrimage to see. It is built of stone,artistically carved, with a square balcony and bay window on each sideof the tall, spacious, and elaborately ornamented doorway. It is clearlyMoorish in type, and must be nearly or quite three hundred years old.Photographs are found of its façade in the art stores of Lima, and mostvisitors bring one away with them as a memento of the place. The housestands even with the thorough-*fare, and is only two stories in height,but is a beautiful relic of the past. It would be quite in accordancewith the surroundings, were it to be transported to Cairo or Bagdad.

On the way from the Plaza Mayor to this attractive bit of Moriscoarchitecture, one gets frequent glimpses of pretty, cool, flower-deckedpatios, about which the low picturesque dwellings are erected, and wheredomestic life is seen in partial seclusion. An infant is playing on themarble paved court, watched by a dark Indian nurse. An ermine-coloredco*ckatoo with a gorgeous yellow plume is gravely eying the child fromits perch. Creeping vines twine about the slim columns which support alow arcade above the entrance floor. Farther in, a bit of statuary peepsout from among the greenery, which is growing in high-colored woodentubs. The vine, which clings tenaciously to the small columns, is thepassion plant, its flowers seeming almost artificial in theirregularity, brightness, and abundance. A fair señora in diaphanous robesreclines at ease in a low, pillowed seat, and the señor, cigarette inmouth, swings leisurely in a hammock.

It was a pretty, characteristic family picture, of which we should beglad to possess a photograph.

Few cities have a more agreeable climate. The range of thethermometer throughout the year being for the winter season from 68° to75°, and in the summer from 80° to 88°. The Humboldt current, as it iscalled, sweeps along the coast from the Antarctic circle, causing a muchlower temperature here than exists in the same latitude on the otherside of the continent. Lima, it will be remembered, is situated abouttwelve degrees from the equatorial line. The climate is of exquisitesoftness, beneath a sky serenely blue; every breath is a pleasure,tranquillizing to both mind and body. Rain is of very rare occurrence,as we have intimated, but earthquakes are frequent. The most destructivevisit of this sort in modern times was in 1745, which at the same timedestroyed the port of Callao. Though Lima is blessed with such aseemingly equable climate, for some unexplained reason it is very farfrom being a healthy place. The great mortality which prevails here isentirely out of proportion to the number of inhabitants. There must besome local reason for this. Even in the days of the Incas, the presentsite of the city was deemed to be a spot only fit for criminals; that isto say, a penal colony was located here, where the earlier Peruviansplaced condemned people, and where a high rate of mortality was notregarded as being entirely objectionable. The Campo Santo of Lima, inthe immediate environs of the city, is built with tall thick wallscontaining niches four ranges high, and recalls those of the city ofMexico. It is not customary to bury in the ground. Some of the monumentsare quite elaborate, but the place generally has a neglected appearance,and no attempt seems made to give it a pleasing aspect. It has neitherflowers nor trees.

The Spaniards, during a sway which lasted over three hundred years,were terrible taskmasters in Peru, enslaving, crushing, and massacringthe natives, just as they did in Cuba and Mexico. The Indians werelooked upon as little more than beasts of burden, and their lives orwell-being were of no sort of account, except so far as they served thepurposes of the invading hordes of Spaniards. The race which has beenproduced by intermarriage and promiscuous intercourse is a veryheterogeneous one, born of aborigines, negroes, mulattoes, Spaniards,and Portuguese. In religion, as well as in daily life, the habits of thepeople are Castilian, whether red, yellow, or black. There is also aconsiderable Chinese population, which, however, as a rule, maintainsisolation from other nationalities so far as intermarriage or closeintimacy is concerned. Many of the Chinese keep cheap eating-houses, andalways seem to be industrious and thrifty. They are the outcome of thecoolie trade, by which the Peruvian plantations were for years suppliedwith laborers,—slave labor, for that is exactly what it was to allintents and purposes, call it what we may. But this cruel and unjustsystem has long been suppressed. Most of the small shops are kept byItalians, and the best hotels by Frenchmen. The banking-houses areusually conducted by Germans, while Americans and Englishmen divide theengineering work, the construction of railways, with such otherprogressive enterprises as require a large share of brains, energy, andcapital.

The women are generally handsome and of the Spanish type, yet theydiffer therefrom in some important and very obvious particulars. Theirgypsy complexions, jet black hair and eyes, white, regular teeth, withfull red lips, form a combination very pleasing to the eye. It must beacknowledged, however, that their complexions are aided by cosmetics.The features are small and regular, the ears being set particularlyclose to the head, which is always a noticeable peculiarity when itprevails. They are vivacious and mirthful, yet not forward or immodest.As regards the youthful portion, conventionality prevents all exhibitionof the latter trait. In dress they follow the styles of Boston, NewYork, and Paris. As their brothers have been mostly educated in thecities named, they very generally speak French and English. Many of theladies have themselves enjoyed the advantages of English, French, orNorth American schools in their girlhood. A certain etiquette as regardsthe society of men is very strictly observed here. No gentleman canassociate with a young lady unless she is chaperoned by her mother or amarried sister. From what we know of Spanish and Italian character, weare not at all surprised at the punctiliousness adhered to in bothcountries in this regard. There are very good reasons why such rules areimperative, not only in South America, but in continental Europe. Likemost of the Spanish women, these of Lima, after the age of twenty-five,though they are rather short, and of small frames, nearly always developinto a decided fullness of figure.

There is a semi-oriental seclusion observed at all times as regardsthe sex in this country. They are rarely seen upon the streets, exceptwhen driving, or going and coming from church; but one need not watchvery closely to see many inquisitive eyes peeping from behind thecurtained balconies which overhang the thoroughfares, and to catchoccasionally stolen glances from pretty, coquettish owners, who would bevery hospitable to strangers if they dared.

Human nature is much the same in Lima as elsewhere. When seen on thestreets, the ladies generally wear the black "manta" drawn close aboutthe head and shoulders and partially covering the face. The manta is ashawl and bonnet combined, or rather it takes the place of a bonnet, andsuggests the lace veil so universally worn at Havana, Seville, andMadrid, also recalling the yashmak worn by the women of the East. TheLima ladies cover half the face, including one eye; those of Egypt onlycover the lower part of the face, leaving both eyes exposed.

We are speaking of the better class of the metropolis. Among the morecommon people, instances of great personal beauty are frequent. One seesdaily youthful girls on the streets who would be pronounced beautifulunder nearly any circ*mstances, an inheritance only too often proving afatal legacy to the owner, forming a source of temptation in a communitywhere morals are held of such slight account, except among the morerefined classes, of whom we have been speaking.

One peculiarity is especially noticeable here among the native race:it is that the Peruvians seem to be mere lookers-on as regards thebusiness of life in their country. All of the important trade is, as wehave said, in the hands of foreigners. The English control the shippinginterests, almost entirely, while the skilled machinists are nearly allAmericans, with a few Scotchmen. We repeat this fact as showing thedo-nothing nature of the natives, and also as signifying that for trueprogress, indeed, for the growth of civilization in any desirabledirection, emigration from Europe and North America must be dependedupon.

The heavy alcoves of the old stone bridge at Lima are appropriated bythe fruit women, whose tempting display forms glowing bits of color. Thethorough-*fares are crowded by itinerant peddlers of all sorts ofmerchandise. Milk-women come from the country, mounted astride of smallhorses or donkeys; water carriers trot about on jackasses, sittingbehind their water jars and uttering piercing cries; Chinese foodvenders, with articles made from mysterious sources, balance theirbaskets at either end of long poles placed across their shoulders; thelottery-ticket vender, loud voiced and urgent, is ever present;newspaper boys, after our own fashion, shout "El Pais," or "ElNacional;" chicken dealers, with baskets full of live birds on theirhead and half a dozen hanging from each hand, solicit your patronage;beggars of both sexes, but mostly lazy, worthless men, feign pitifullameness, while importuning every stranger for a centavo; bright,careless girls and boys rush hither and thither, full of life andspirit,—black, yellow, brown, and white, all mingling together onan equal footing. The absence of wheeled vehicles is noticeable, thetramway-cars gliding rapidly past the pedestrians, while pack-horses anddonkeys transport mostly such merchandise as is not carried on the headsof men and women. Of the better class of citizens who help to make upthis polyglot community of the metropolis, one very easily distinguishesthe American, French, German, and English; each nationality is somehowdistinctively marked.

The stock of goods offered for sale in the pawn-*brokers' shops, as arule, is very significant in foreign cities; here the shelves of thesedealers are full of valuable domestic articles, which the fallenfortunes of the once rich Lima families have compelled them to part withfrom time to time in a struggle to keep the wolf from the door. TheChilians took all they could readily find of both public and privateproperty, and though they ruined financially some of the best families,they did not succeed in getting everything which was portable andvaluable. Heirlooms are offered in these shops for comparativelytrifling sums, such as rich old lace; diamonds; superbly wroughtbracelets in gold, rubies, topazes, and other precious stones, set andunset; gold and silver spoons and forks of curious designs, and of whichonly one set were ever manufactured, intended to fill a special orderand suit the fancy of some rich family. Drinking-cups bearing royalcrests, and others with the arms of noble Castilian families engravedupon them, are numerous. There are also swords with jeweled hilts, goldand silver table ornaments, together with antique china, which mightrival the Satsuma of Japan. Curio hunters have secured many, nay, nearlyall, of the very choicest of these domestic relics, which they havemostly taken to London, where they obtained fabulous prices forthem.

We were told of an enterprising Yankee who invested one thousanddollars in these articles, took them to England, and promptly realizedsome eleven thousand dollars above all his expenses upon the venture.Returning to Rio Janeiro, on the east coast, he purchased preciousstones with his increased capital, and, strange to say, although he wasby no means an expert, among his gems he secured an old mine diamond ofgreat value at a low figure, which, having been crudely cut, did notexhibit its real excellence. Taking the whole of his second purchase toParis, he disposed of his gems at a large advance, and finally returnedto New York with a net capital exceeding forty thousand dollars. Thisenterprising and successful individual bore the euphonious name ofSmyth,—Smyth with a y,—Alfred Smyth.

The three watering-places, or country villages of Miraflores,Baranco, and Chorillos, are connected with Lima by railway, and in theseresorts many city merchants have their summer homes, occupyingpicturesque ranches. The Chilians sacked and burned these places duringthe war, but they have been mostly rebuilt, and are once more in athriving condition.

Peru was celebrated for centuries as the most prolific gold andsilver producing country in the world; her very name has long been thesynonym for riches. Although the product of the precious metals is stillconsiderable, yet it is quite insignificant compared with the revenuewhich she has realized from the export of guano and phosphates. Theformer article, as we have already said, has become virtually exhausted,and the latter source of supply, still immensely prolific and valuable,has been stolen from her bodily by the Chilians, so that Peru has now tofall back upon industry and the remaining natural resources of thesoil.

The most remarkable peculiarity in the physical formation of Peru isthe double Cordillera of the Andes, which traverse it from southeast tonorthwest, separating the country into three distinct regions, whichdiffer materially from each other in climate, soil, and vegetation. Tothe proximity of the range nearest to the coast is undoubtedly to beattributed the frequent earthquakes which disturb the shore, whether thevolcanoes are apparently extinct or not. It may be reasonably doubted ifany of the volcanoes are absolutely extinct, in the full sense of theterm. They may be inoperative, so far as can be seen, for an entirecentury, and at its close break out in full vigor. In consulting theauthorities upon this subject we find that, since 1570, there have beensixty-nine destructive earthquakes recorded as having taken place on thewest coast of South America. The most terrible of them was that alreadyreferred to, which destroyed Callao in 1745. It is stated that theshocks at that time continued with more or less violence for threeconsecutive months, and the records of the event further state thatthere were two hundred and twenty distinct shocks within the twenty-fourhours following the enormous tidal wave which overwhelmed Callao. Atpresent, hardly a week passes without decided indications of volcanicdisturbance occurring, but these are of so slight a nature,comparatively speaking, that but little attention is paid to them by thenative population, though it is true that sensitive strangers often turnpale at such an event and tremble with fearful anticipations.

About twenty miles south of Lima, on elevated ground which overlooksthe Pacific, is the prehistoric spot known as Pachacamac, in the valleyof the Lurin River. The name signifies the "Creator of the World," towhom the city and its temples were originally dedicated. Here, upon theedge of the desert, once stood the sacred city of a people who precededthe Incas, and who have left in these interesting, mouldering ruinstokens of their advanced civilization, as clearly defined as are thoseof Thebes, in far away Egypt. Another fact should not be lost sight ofin this connection, that many ancient remains to be found in thisneighborhood evince a higher degree of intelligence, in theirconstructive belongings, than do any evidences left to us respecting thedays of the Incas, with whom we are in a measure familiar. Thearchæologists, whose profession it is to carefully weigh even theslightest tangible evidence which time has spared, long since came tothis conclusion.

Pachacamac was the Mecca of South America, or at least of the mostcivilized portion of it, if we may judge by present appearances, and bythe testimony of history as far back as it reaches.

The ruins at Pachacamac consist of walls formed of and sun-dried bricks, some of which can betraced, notwithstanding the many earthquakes which have shaken theneighborhood. The site of the ruins is a hilly spot, and the sands havedrifted so as to cover them in many places, just as the Sphinx and thebase of the pyramids have been covered, near Cairo. Specific ruins aredesignated as having once been the grand temple of the sun, and othersas the house of the sacred virgins of the sun. It is very obvious thatthe Incas destroyed a grand and spacious temple here, which legend tellsus was heavily adorned with silver and gold, to make way for one oftheir own dedicated to the worship of the sun. Who this race were andwhence they came, with so considerable a system of civilization, is atheme which has long absorbed the speculative antiquarian. It is easyenough to construct theories which may meet the case, but it isdifficult to support them when they are subjected to the cold argumentsof reason and the test of known history. Actual knowledge is a greaticonoclast, and smashes the poetical images of the unreliable historianwith a ruthless hand. The Spanish records relating to the period ofearly discovery here, as also of Pizarro's career and the doing of theagents of the Romish Church, have long since been proven to beabsolutely unworthy of belief.

About the ruins of Pachacamac was once a sacred burial place, wherewell-preserved mummies are still to be found, but the great, silent,ruined city itself does not contain one living inhabitant. Thegraveyard—the Campo Santo—remains, as it were, intact, butthe proud city, with its grand temples dedicated to unknown gods, hascrumbled to dust.

Curiously carved gold and silver vases and ornaments, exhibiting theexercise of a high degree of artistic skill, have been exhumed in thevast graveyard surrounding these ruins, whose extent, if judged by thenumber of interments which have taken place here, must have been tentimes larger than the present site of Lima, and it must have contained apopulation many times larger than that of the present capital of Peru.In the mouths of the well-preserved mummies found buried here, we aretold that gold coins were found, presumably placed there to pay forferriage across the river of death. Here we have a fact also worthy ofnote. It thus appears that this people must have had a circulatingmedium in the shape of gold coin. As the placing of coin in the mouth ofthe deceased was a custom of the ancient Greeks, may it not be thatthese people came originally from Greece or from some contiguouscountry?

There are numerous other ancient remains in the neighborhood of Lima,of which even tradition fails to give any account. Antiquarians findmany clues to special knowledge of the past in the remains which can beexhumed in places on the coast of Chili and Peru, in the ancient graveswhere the nitrous soil has preserved not only the bodies of a formerpeople, but also their tools, weapons, and domestic utensils.

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To reach the United States from Callao, the most direct course is tosail northward fifteen hundred miles to Panama, and cross the isthmus,again taking ship from the Atlantic side; but the author's familyawaited him in Europe, and as the Pacific mail service exactly met hisrequirements, he sailed southward, touching at several of the portsalready visited, crossing the Atlantic by way of the Canary and Cape deVerde Islands to Lisbon, thence to Southampton and to London. Joininghis family, he crossed the Atlantic from Liverpool to Boston, after anabsence of seven months, traveling in all of this equatorial journeysome thirty thousand miles without any serious mishap, and havingacquired a largely augmented fund of pleasurable memories.