_June 7th._—Yesterday we visited the Mint, the Academy of Fine Arts, and

a primary school for girls. Of the Mint it is scarcely fair to judge in

its present condition; a new building is nearly completed, and all

improvements in machinery are wisely deferred until the establishment is

removed. When this change takes place, much that is antiquated will be

improved, and its many deficiencies supplied.

There is little knowledge of, or interest in, art in Brazil. Pictures

are as rare as books in a Brazilian house; and though Rio de Janeiro has

an Academy of Fine Arts, including a school of design and sculpture, it

is still in too elementary a condition to warrant criticism. The only

interesting picture in the collection derives its attraction wholly from

the circumstances connected with it, not at all from any merit in the

execution. It is a likeness of a negro who, in a shipwreck off the

coast, saved a number of lives at the risk of his own. When he had

brought several passengers to the shore, he was told that two children

remained in the ship. He swam back once more and brought them safely to

the beach, but sank down himself exhausted, and was seized with

hemorrhage. A considerable sum was raised for him in the city of Rio,

and his picture was placed in the Academy to commemorate his heroism.

Of the public school for girls not much can be said. The education of

women is little regarded in Brazil, and the standard of instruction for

girls in the public schools is low. Even in the private schools, where

the children of the better class are sent, it is the complaint of all

teachers that they are taken away from school just at the time when

their minds begin to develop. The majority of girls in Brazil who go to

school at all are sent at about seven or eight years of age, and are

considered to have finished their education at thirteen or fourteen. The

next step in their life is marriage. Of course there are exceptions;

some parents wisely leave their children at school, or direct their

instruction at home, till they are seventeen or eighteen years of age,

and others send their girls abroad. But usually, with the exception of

one or two accomplishments, such as French or music, the education of

women is neglected, and this neglect affects the whole tone of society.

It does not change the general truth of this statement, that there are

Brazilian ladies who would be recognized in the best society as women of

the highest intelligence and culture. But they are the exceptions, as

they inevitably must be under the present system of instruction, and

they feel its influence upon their social position only the more

bitterly.

Indeed, many of the women I have known most intimately here have spoken

to me with deep regret of their limited, imprisoned existence. There is

not a Brazilian senhora, who has ever thought about the subject at all,

who is not aware that her life is one of repression and constraint. She

cannot go out of her house, except under certain conditions, without

awakening scandal. Her education leaves her wholly ignorant of the most

common topics of a wider interest, though perhaps with a tolerable

knowledge of French and music. The world of books is closed to her; for

there is little Portuguese literature into which she is allowed to look,

and that of other languages is still less at her command. She knows

little of the history of her own country, almost nothing of that of

others, and she is hardly aware that there is any religious faith except

the uniform one of Brazil; she has probably never heard of the

Reformation, nor does she dream that there is a sea of thought surging

in the world outside, constantly developing new phases of national and

individual life; indeed, of all but her own narrow domestic existence

she is profoundly ignorant.

On one occasion, when staying at a fazenda, I took up a volume which was

lying on the piano. A book is such a rare sight, in the rooms occupied

by the family, that I was curious to see its contents. As I stood

turning over the leaves (it proved to be a romance), the master of the

house came up, and remarked that the book was not suitable reading for

ladies, but that here (putting into my hand a small volume) was a work

adapted to the use of women and children, which he had provided for the

senhoras of his family. I opened it, and found it to be a sort of

textbook of morals, filled with commonplace sentiments, copybook

phrases, written in a tone of condescending indulgence for the feminine

intellect. Women being, after all, the mothers of men, and understood to

have some little influence on their education, I could hardly wonder,

after seeing this specimen of their intellectual food, that the wife and

daughters of our host were not greatly addicted to reading. Nothing

strikes a stranger more than the absence of books in Brazilian houses.

If the father is a professional man, he has his small library of

medicine or law, but books are never seen scattered about as if in

common use; they make no part of the daily life. I repeat, that there

are exceptions. I well remember finding in the sitting-room of a young

girl, by whose family we had been most cordially received, a

well-selected library of the best literary and historical works in

German and French; but this is the only instance of the kind we met with

during our year in Brazil. Even when the Brazilian women have received

the ordinary advantages of education, there is something in their

home-life so restricted, so shut out from natural contact with external

influences, that this in itself tends to cripple their development.

Their amusements are as meagre and scanty as their means of instruction.

In writing these things I but echo the thought of many intelligent

Brazilians, who lament a social evil which they do not well know how to

reform. If among our Brazilian friends there are some who, familiar with

the more progressive aspect of life in Rio de Janeiro, question the

accuracy of my statements, I can only say that they do not know the

condition of society in the northern cities and provinces. Among my own

sex, I have never seen such sad lives as became known to me there,—lives

deprived of healthy, invigorating happiness, and intolerably

monotonous,—a negative suffering, having its source, it is true, in the

absence of enjoyment rather than in the presence of positive evils, but

all the more to be deplored because so stagnant and inactive.

Behind all defects in methods of instruction, there lies a fault of

domestic education, to be lamented throughout Brazil. This is the

constant association with black servants, and, worse still, with negro

children, of whom there are usually a number in every house. Whether the

low and vicious habits of the negroes are the result of slavery or not,

they cannot be denied; and it is singular to see persons, otherwise

careful and conscientious about their children, allowing them to live in

the constant companionship of their blacks, waited upon by the older

ones, playing all day with the younger ones. It shows how blind we may

become, by custom, to the most palpable dangers. A stranger observes at

once the evil results of this contact with vulgarity and vice, though

often unnoticed by the parents. In the capital, some of these evils are

fast disappearing; indeed, those who remember Rio de Janeiro forty years

ago have witnessed, during that short period, a remarkable change for

the better in the state of society. Nor should it be forgotten that the

highest authority in the community is exerted in the cause of a liberal

culture for women. It is well known that the education of the Imperial

princesses has been not only superintended, but in a great measure

personally conducted, by their father.

_July 8th._—I was prevented yesterday from going to the Blind Asylum

with Mr. Agassiz, but I transcribe his notes upon this, as well as upon

the Marine Arsenal, which he also visited without me.

“The building is old and in a ruinous condition. I was not allowed to go

over it, everything being brought to the reception-room for my

inspection, though I told the director that I did not care about the

external arrangements, but simply wished to know by what means the

privations of the blind were alleviated in his establishment. The same

processes of routine prevail here as in other schools and colleges I

have seen in Rio. This, however, is not peculiar to Portuguese or

Brazilian habits of instruction. The old habit of overrating memory, and

neglecting the more active and productive faculties of the mind, still

prevails more or less in education everywhere. I learned little of the

general system pursued. The teachers were more anxious to show off the

ability of special pupils in reading, writing from dictation, and music,

than to explain their methods of instruction. Vocal and instrumental

music seemed the favorite occupation; but though it is very pathetic to

hear the blind deplore their misfortune and express their craving for

light in harmonious sounds, it does not, after all, give much

information as to the way in which their calamity is relieved. I should

add, that their musical performance is excellent, and does great credit

to their German professor. It struck me that very little use was made of

object-teaching, such as is so much in vogue for children in Germany.

There are not as many models in the whole establishment as would be

found in any nursery in certain parts of Germany. The maps also are very

poor.

“One of the most interesting of the public establishments at Rio de

Janeiro is the Marine Arsenal. From the Gulf of Mexico to Cape Horn

there is not to be found on the Atlantic coast another port where a

vessel of war, or even a merchant vessel of large tonnage, could undergo

important repairs. The machine-shops and saw-mills are well directed,

and are deficient in none of the improvements belonging to modern

establishments of the kind. The dock is large and constructed of

granite. A considerable number of large vessels have been built at this

shipyard during the last few years, and all its appointments have been

constantly improving under the direction of several successive ministers

of the navy. Such an establishment is, in fact, a necessity for Brazil;

possessing as she does eleven hundred leagues of coast, it is impossible

for her to depend upon other countries for her maritime supplies. The

Marine Arsenal sends out from its school and shipyard many able

engineers and clever artisans, who carry into ordinary branches of

industry the ability they have acquired in the public service. Indeed,

this establishment may be considered as a sort of school of industrial

arts, furnishing the country with good workmen in various departments of

labor.”

This week Mr. Agassiz has concluded another course of six lectures given

at the College of Dom Pedro II.; the subject, “The Formation of the

Amazonian Valley, and its Productions.” It is worthy of remark, that the

appearance of ladies on such occasions no longer excites comment. There

were many more senhoras among the listeners than at the previous

lectures, when their presence was a novelty. A Brazilian audience is

very sympathetic; in this they resemble a European assembly more than

our own quiet, undemonstrative crowds. There is always a little stir, a

responsive thrill, when anything pleases them, and often a spoken word

of commendation or criticism.

_June 10th._—Theresopolis. Yesterday, accompanied by Mr. Glaziou,

Director of the Passeio Publico, and Dr. Nägeli, we started on an

excursion to the Organ Mountains, leaving Rio in the boat for Piedade,

and stopping on our way at the little island of Paquetá. This is one of

the prettiest islands of the harbor, abounding in palms, populous with

pleasant country-houses, and having a very picturesque shore, broken

into bays and inlets. We reached the little cluster of houses called

Piedade about five o’clock, and took the omnibus to the foot of the

serra. The hours of public conveyance on this road seem ingeniously

arranged to prevent the traveller from seeing its beauties. The greater

part of the four hours’ drive is made after nightfall; and the return

offers no compensation, the second journey taking place before daybreak.

We passed the night at the foot of the serra, and started at seven

o’clock the next morning to walk up the mountain. It is impossible to

describe the beauty of this walk, especially on such a day as we were

favored with, varying between sunshine and shade, and with a fresh

breeze which saved us any discomfort from the heat. The road winds

gently up the serra, turning sometimes with so sharp an angle that below

we could see all the ground we had travelled over. On one hand is the

mountain-side, clothed with a vegetation of surpassing beauty, bright

with crimson parasites, with the rich purple flowers of the Quaresma and

the delicate blue blossoms of the Utricularia, as fragile and as

graceful as the harebell. On the other hand, we looked down sometimes

into narrow gorges, clothed with magnificent forest, from which huge

masses of rock projected here and there; sometimes into wider valleys

opening out into the plain below, and giving a distant view of the

harbor and its archipelago of islands surrounded by mountains, the whole

scene glittering in the sunshine, or veiled by shadows, as the fitful

day showed it to us.

[Illustration: Garrafaō, among the Organ Mountains.]

The ascent may be easily accomplished on foot in three or four hours. We

had nothing to urge us forward, however, except a growing desire for

breakfast, appeased every now and then by an orange, of which we had a

good supply in the tin case for plants, and many a slow train of laden

mules passed us in their upward march, and left us far behind as we

loitered along, though not lazily. On the contrary, Mr. Agassiz and his

friends found plenty of occupation in botanizing and geologizing. They

stopped constantly to gather parasites, to study ferns and mosses, to

break boulders, to collect insects and the little land-shells found here

and there along the road. We saw one most beautiful insect, hardly

larger than a lady-bug, but of the most exquisite colors and gleaming

like a jewel on the leaf where it had alighted. In breaking the stones

along the roadside Mr. Agassiz found many evidences of erratics, several

of them being Diorite, entirely distinct from the rock in place. The

surfaces of the boulders were universally decomposed and covered with a

uniform crust, so that it was necessary to split them in order to

ascertain their true nature. From distance to distance along the road

were immense fragments of rock, sometimes twenty or thirty feet in

height. These huge masses were frequently seen hanging on the brink of

steep declivities, as if, having broken off from the heights above, and

rolled down, they had been prevented from advancing farther by some

obstacle, and had become gradually embedded in the soil. Many of these

boulders were clothed in soft, thick reindeer moss, so like the reindeer

moss of the Arctics that, if specifically distinct, the difference could

not be detected except by the most careful examination. It suggests the

question whether there are any representatives of the tropical flora

among the lichens and pines of the high north. As we advanced, the

character of the vegetation changed considerably, and we began to feel,

by the increasing freshness of the air, that we were getting into higher

regions. The near view became more beautiful as we approached the heart

of the mountains, coming under the shadow of their strange peaks, which

looked sharp and attenuated from a distance, but changed into wonderful

masses of bare rock, very grand in their effect, as we drew closer to

them. We reached the hotel at Theresopolis at about two o’clock. After

our long walk, the answer we received to our inquiry about breakfast at

the little grocery adjoining the inn was rather discouraging. What could

they give us on short notice? “Only four eggs and some sausage.”

However, the master of the hotel made his appearance, opened his house,

where, to judge from its closed doors and windows, the advent of guests

is rare, and comforted us with the information that breakfast “pode se

arranjar.” Indeed, from the dish of eggs which made its appearance soon

afterwards, we might have supposed that all the hens in the village had

been called upon to contribute, and we enjoyed a breakfast for which

mountain air and exercise had supplied the best sauce.

The village of Theresopolis is very prettily situated, lying in a dip

between the mountains and commanding a magnificent view of the peaks,

one of which stands out like a tall, narrow tower against the sky. Near

it is another sharp summit, on the extreme point of which a large

boulder is placed. It looks as if a touch would dislodge it; and yet for

how many a long year has it held its place there through storm and

sunshine! We looked up at this huge fragment of rock on its dizzy

height, and wondered whether it was erratic, or simply an effect of

decomposition on the spot,—a point impossible of decision at that

distance. If the latter, it seems strange that the weather should have

worn and excavated such a mass underneath, without destroying its upper

surface, thus detaching it from the mountain, till it stands, as now, in

bold relief, only supported by a single point of attachment on the

extreme summit. We spent the rest of the day in a walk to a very pretty

cascade which comes rushing down through the wood a mile or two from the

village.

_June 11th._—We left the inn at half past seven this morning, to pass

the day again in rambling. Following the main road for a quarter of a

mile or so beyond the village, we presently turned to the left into a

narrow, shady pathway. It led us through the woods to the edge of a deep

basin sunk between the mountains, on the slopes of which were strewn

many immense boulders. A curious feature of the Organ Mountains which we

have observed repeatedly even in this short excursion is, that between

their strangely fantastic forms the country sinks down into well-defined

basins, which usually have no outlet. Following the brink of such a

basin for a couple of miles, and crossing an intervening ridge, we came

out upon a kind of plateau overhanging another depression of the same

character, and commanding a magnificent view of the chain, in the very

centre of which it seems to be, for the mountains rise tier upon tier

around it on every side. On this plateau stands the fazenda called St.

Louis, belonging to Mr. d’Escragnolle. The exquisite beauty of the site

and the hospitality of its owner have made this fazenda a favorite

resort for travellers. The grounds are laid out with much taste, and Mr.

d’Escragnolle’s success in raising many of the European fruits and

vegetables, as well as those of his own country, makes it the more to be

regretted that this beautiful region should be so little cultivated.

Pears, peaches, strawberries, thrive admirably, as also do green peas,

asparagus, artichokes, and cauliflowers. The climate strikes a happy

medium between the heat in the neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, which

brings these products to too rapid a development, drying them up before

they have time to mature, and the sharp cold of higher mountain regions.

But though at so short a distance from the capital, the transport is so

difficult and expensive that Mr. d’Escragnolle, instead of sending the

produce of his farm to the city market, as he would gladly do, feeds his

pigs with cauliflowers. We passed the rest of the day most delightfully

in this charming country place. Mr. Agassiz and Mr. Glaziou ascended one

of the near mountain summits, but did not gain so extensive a view as

they had hoped, on account of an intervening spur. They were able to

distinguish three parallel ridges, however, separated by intervening

depressions. Toward evening, while the mountains were still bright with

the purple glory of the sunset, though shadows were settling over the

valleys, we started on our return, bidding good by with great regret to

our kind host, who warmly pressed us to stay. The path we had followed

in the morning, without giving a thought to its irregularities, seemed

quite broken and difficult by night. The slopes along which it ran were

changed, in the dim light, to sudden precipices, and we picked our steps

with care between rocks and over fallen logs and rivulets. It was bright

starlight as we came out of the woods upon the high road. The village

lay below, its lights twinkling cheerily, and the peaks and towers

behind it drawn with strange distinctness against the night sky.

[Illustration: Organ Mountains.]

_June 12th._—Barreira. This morning at seven o’clock we were on our way

down the serra. Mr. Agassiz deplores the necessity which obliges him to

leave this region after so short an examination of its striking

features. A naturalist might pass months here, and find every day rich

in results. As we left the hotel the sun was just gilding the highest

summits, while white clouds rose softly from the valleys, and, floating

upward, broke into fleecy fragments against the mountain-sides. Having

the day before us, we descended as slowly as we had mounted the serra,

stopping almost at every step to gather plants, to examine rocks, to

wonder at the strange position of the immense boulders hanging often

just on the brow of some steep declivity. I wandered on beyond the

others and sat down to wait for them on the low stone wall, forming a

parapet on the edge of the road. Directly before me rose the bare, rocky

surface of one of the great peaks; a vapory white cloud hung midway upon

it; shadows floated over it. On the other side I looked down upon wooded

valleys and mountains in strange confusion, while far below, stretching

out to the sea, lay the billowy plain tossed into endless soft green

waves. The stillness made the scene more impressive, the silence being

only occasionally broken by the click of hoofs, as a train of mules came

cautiously down the flagged road. While I sat there a liteira passed me

slung between mules; a mode of travelling fast disappearing with the

improvements of the roads, but still in use for women and children in

certain parts of the country. We stopped to breakfast at a little venda

about half-way down the serra; here the boulders are most remarkable

from their great size and singular position. We reached the inn at the

bottom of the serra between two and three o’clock, and are now sitting

in the little piazza, while a drenching rain, which fortunately did not

begin till we were under shelter, swells the stream near by, and is fast

changing it to a rapid torrent. I will add here such observations

respecting the geological structure of this mountain range as Mr.

Agassiz has been able to make in our short excursion.

“The chain is formed by the sharp folding up of strata, sometimes quite

vertically, in other instances with a slope more or less steep, but

always rather sudden. To one standing on the hill to the east of

Theresopolis, the whole range presents itself in a perfect profile; the

axis, on either side of which dip the almost vertical beds of

metamorphic rocks composing the chain, occupies about the centre of the

range. To the north, though very steeply inclined, the beds are not so

vertical as in the southern prolongation of the range. The consequence

of this difference is the formation of more massive and less

disconnected summits on the north side; while on the south side, where

the strata are nearly or quite vertical, the harder sets of beds alone

have remained standing, the softer intervening beds having been

gradually disintegrated. By this process have been formed those strange

peaks which appear from a distance like a row of organ-pipes, and have

suggested the name by which the chain is known. They consist of vertical

beds isolated from the general mass in consequence of the disappearance

of contiguous strata. The aspect of these mountains from Rio is much the

same as from Theresopolis, only that from the two points of view—one

being to the northeast, the other to the southwest of the range—their

summits present themselves in the reverse order. When seen in complete

profile their slender appearance is most striking. Viewed from the side,

the broad surfaces of the strata, though equally steep, exhibit a

triangular form rather than that of vertical columns. It is strange that

the height of the Organ Mountain peaks, so conspicuous a feature in the

landscape of Rio de Janeiro, should not have been accurately measured.

The only precise indication I have been able to find is recorded by

Liais, who gives 7,000 feet as the maximum height observed by him.

“These abrupt peaks frequently surround closed basins, very symmetrical

in shape, but without any outlet. On account of this singular formation,

the glacial phenomena which abound in the Organ Mountains are of a

peculiar character. At first, I was at a loss to explain how loose

masses of rock, descending from the heights above, should be caught on

the edges of these basins, instead of rolling to the bottom. But their

position becomes quite natural when we remember that the ice must have

remained in these depressions long after it had disappeared, or nearly

disappeared, from the slopes above. Hindered from advancing, these huge

masses of rock have become gradually embedded in the soil, and are now

solidly fixed in positions which would be perfectly inexplicable, unless

we suppose the basin to have been formerly filled with something which

offered an obstacle to their farther descent. Moraines also abut upon

these depressions, coming to an abrupt close upon their margin. Morainic

soil—that is, masses of drift with all sorts of loose materials buried

in it—abounds everywhere in this region; but, on the whole, the glacial

phenomena are difficult to study, because the heavy growth of forest has

covered all inequalities of the soil, and, except where sections have

been made or ground has been cleared, the outlines are lost.”

This was our final excursion in Brazil. The next morning we returned to

the city; and the few remaining days were spent in preparations for

departure, and in bidding farewell to the friends who had made Rio de

Janeiro almost like a home to us. Among the pleasant incidents of this

last week, was a breakfast given by Mr. Ledgerwood, who was then

conducting the business of the American legation in the temporary

absence of our Minister, General Webb. This occasion, at which Mr.

Agassiz was invited to meet several members of the Brazilian

administration, gave him an opportunity of expressing his sense of their

uniform kindness and consideration in furthering to the utmost the

scientific objects which had brought him to Brazil. On the following day

(the 2d of July), we sailed for the United States, carrying with us to

our northern home a store of pleasant memories and vivid pictures to

enrich our life hereafter with tropical warmth and color.

CHAPTER XVI.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS OF BRAZIL.

RELIGION AND CLERGY.—EDUCATION.—LAW, MEDICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC

SCHOOLS.—HIGH AND COMMON SCHOOLS.—PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM IN RIO

DE JANEIRO.—HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE.—SOCIAL AND

DOMESTIC RELATIONS.—PUBLIC FUNCTIONARIES.—AGRICULTURE.—ZONES OF

VEGETATION.—COFFEE.—COTTON.—TIMBER AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE

AMAZONS.—CATTLE.—TERRITORIAL SUBDIVISION OF THE GREAT

VALLEY.—EMIGRATION.—FOREIGNERS.—PARAGUAYAN WAR.

I cannot close this book, written for the most part by another hand,

without a few words as to my general impressions of Brazil. No one will

expect from me an essay on the social and political aspects of the whole

country, even had I remained there long enough to acquire the right of

judgment on these matters. I am so unaccustomed to dealing with them

that my opinions would be entitled to little weight. There is, however,

another point of view, more general, but perhaps more comprehensive

also, from which every intelligent man may form an estimate of the

character of a people which, if sincere, will be in the main sound and

just, without including an intimate knowledge of their institutions, or

the practical working of their laws. My scientific life has brought me

into relations with a world wholly unknown to me before; under

conditions more favorable than were possible for my predecessors in the

same region, I have studied this tropical nature, so rich, so grandiose,

so instructive; I have seen a great Empire founded in the midst of

unlimited material resources, and advancing to higher civilization under

the inspiration of a sovereign as enlightened as he is humane. I must

have been blind to everything except my science, had I not a word to say

of Brazil as a nation,—of her present condition and her future

prospects.

There is much that is discouraging in the aspect of Brazil, even for

those who hope and believe as I do, that she has before her an honorable

and powerful career. There is much also that is very cheering, that

leads me to believe that her life as a nation will not belie her great

gifts as a country. Should her moral and intellectual endowments grow

into harmony with her wonderful natural beauty and wealth, the world

will not have seen a fairer land. At present there are several obstacles

to this progress; obstacles which act like a moral disease upon the

people. Slavery still exists among them. It is true that it is on the

wane; true that it has received a mortal blow; but the natural death of

slavery is a lingering illness, wasting and destroying the body it has

attacked. Next to this I would name, among the influences unfavorable to

progress, the character of the clergy. In saying this I disclaim any

reference to the national religion. It is of the character of the clergy

I speak, not of the church they represent. Whatever be the church

organization in a country where instruction is still so intimately

linked with a state religion as it is in Brazil, it is of infinite

importance that the clergy themselves should not only be men of high

moral character, but of studious, thoughtful lives. They are the

teachers of the people, and as long as they believe that the mind can be

fed with tawdry street processions, with lighted candles, and cheap

bouquets; and as long as the people accept this kind of instruction,

they will be debased and enfeebled by it. Shows of this kind are of

almost daily occurrence in all the large cities of Brazil. They

interfere with the ordinary occupations, and make working days the

exception rather than the rule. It must be remembered that in Brazil

there is no laborious, cultivated class of priests, such as have been an

honor to ecclesiastical literature in the Old World; there are no fine

institutions of learning connected with the Church. As a general thing,

the ignorance of the clergy is universal, their immorality patent, their

influence very extensive and deep-rooted. There are honorable

exceptions, but they are not numerous enough to elevate the class to

which they belong. But if their private life is open to blame, the

Brazilian priests are distinguished for their patriotism. At all times

they have occupied high public stations, serving in the Legislative

Assembly, in the Senate, and even nearer to the throne; yet their power

has never been exerted in favor of Ultramontane tendencies. Independent

religious thought seems, however, rare in Brazil. There may perhaps be

scepticism; but I think this is not likely to be extensively the case,

for the Brazilians are instinctively a believing people, tending rather

to superstition than to doubt. Oppression in matters of faith is

contrary to the spirit of their institutions. Protestant clergymen are

allowed to preach freely; but, as a general thing, Protestantism does

not attract the Southern nations, and it may be doubted whether its

advocates will have a very wide-spread success. However this may be,

every friend to Brazil must wish to see its present priesthood replaced

by a more vigorous, intelligent, and laborious clergy.

In order to form a just estimate of the present condition of education

in Brazil, and its future prospects, we must not consider it altogether

from our own stand-point. The truth is that all steady progress in

Brazil dates from her declaration of independence, and that is a very

recent fact in her history. Since she has passed from colonial to

national life her relations with other countries have enlarged,

antiquated prejudices have been effaced, and with a more intense

individual existence she has assumed also a more cosmopolitan breadth of

ideas. But a political revolution is more rapidly accomplished than the

remoulding of the nation which is its result,—its consequence rather

than its accompaniment. Even now, after half a century of independent

existence, intellectual progress in Brazil is manifested rather as a

tendency, a desire, so to speak, giving a progressive movement to

society, than as a positive fact. The intellectual life of a nation when

fully developed has its material existence in large and various

institutions of learning, scattered throughout the country. Except in a

very limited and local sense, this is not yet the case in Brazil.

I did not visit San Paolo, and I cannot therefore speak from personal

observation of the Faculty which stands highest in general estimation; I

can, however, testify to the sound learning and liberal culture of many

of its graduates whom it has been my good fortune to know, and whose

characters as gentlemen and as students bear testimony to the superior

instruction they have received at the hands of their Alma Mater. I was

told that the best schools, after those of San Paolo, were those of

Bahia and Pernambuco. I did not visit them, as my time was too short;

but I should think that the presence of the professional faculties

established in both these cities would tend to raise the character of

the lower grades of education. The regular faculties embrace only

medical and legal studies. The instruction in both is thorough, though

perhaps limited; at least I felt that, in the former, in which my own

studies have prepared me to judge, those accessory branches which, after

all, lie at the foundation of a superior medical education, are either

wanting or are taught very imperfectly. Neither zoölogy, comparative

anatomy, botany, physics, nor chemistry is allowed sufficient weight in

the medical schools. The education is one rather of books than of facts.

Indeed, as long as the prejudice against manual labor of all kinds

exists in Brazil, practical instruction will be deficient; as long as

students of nature think it unbecoming a gentleman to handle his own

specimens, to carry his own geological hammer, to make his own

scientific preparations, he will remain a mere dilettante in

investigation. He may be very familiar with recorded facts, but he will

make no original researches. On this account, and on account of their

personal indolence, field studies are foreign to Brazilian habits.

Surrounded as they are by a nature rich beyond comparison, their

naturalists are theoretical rather than practical. They know more of the

bibliography of foreign science than of the wonderful fauna and flora

with which they are surrounded.

Of the schools and colleges in Rio de Janeiro I have more right to judge

than of those above mentioned. Several of them are excellent. The Ecole

Centrale deserves a special notice. It corresponds to what we call a

scientific school, and nowhere in Brazil have I seen an educational

institution where improved methods of teaching were so highly

appreciated and so generally adopted. The courses of mathematics,

chemistry, physics, and the natural sciences are comprehensive and

thorough. And yet even in this institution I was struck with the

scantiness of means for practical illustration and experiment; its

professors do not yet seem to understand that it is impossible to teach

any of the physical sciences wholly or mainly from text-books. The

facilities granted to pupils in this school, and perhaps still more in

the military school, are very great. The instruction is entirely

gratuitous, and in the military school the students are not only fed and

clothed, etc.; they are even paid for their attendance, being considered

as belonging to the army from the time they enter the school.

The Dom Pedro Segundo College is the best school of that class I have

seen in Brazil. It may be compared to our New England high schools, and

fully deserves the reputation it enjoys.

Of the common schools I saw little. Of course, in a country where the

population is sparsely scattered over very extensive districts, it must

be difficult to gather the children in schools, outside of the large

cities. Where such schools have been organized the instruction is

gratuitous; but competent teachers are few, the education very limited,

and the means of instruction scanty. Reading, writing, and ciphering,

with the least possible smattering of geography, form the groundwork of

all these schools. The teachers labor under great difficulties, because

they have not the strong support of the community. There is little

general appreciation of the importance of education as the basis without

which all higher civilization is impossible. I have, however, noticed

throughout Brazil a disposition to give a practical education, a

training in some trade, to the poor children. Establishments of this

kind exist in almost all the larger cities. This is a good sign; it

shows that they attach a proper value to labor, at least for the lower

classes, and aim at raising a working population. In these schools

blacks and whites are, so to speak, industrially united. Indeed, there

is no antipathy of race to be overcome in Brazil, either among the

laboring people or in the higher walks of life. I was pleased to see

pupils, without distinction of race or color, mingling in the exercises.

It is surprising that, in a country so rich in mineral wealth, there

should exist no special Mining School, and that everything connected

with the working of the mines should be under the immediate supervision

of the Minister of Public Works, without the assistance of a special

office for the superintendence of mining operations. Nothing would more

speedily increase the value of the mineral lands of the whole country

than a regular geological survey, which has not yet been begun.[107]

The Imperial Library at Rio de Janeiro should not be omitted from an

enumeration of its educational establishments. It is very fairly

supplied with books in all departments of learning, and is conducted in

a very liberal spirit, suffering no limitation from religious or

political prejudice. In fact, tolerance and benevolence are common

characteristics of the institutions of learning in Brazil. The Imperial

Museum of Natural History in the Capital is antiquated; to any one

acquainted with Museums which are living and progressive, it is evident

that the collections it contains have been allowed to remain for years

in their present condition, without additions or improvements. The

mounted animals, mammalia and birds, are faded; and the fishes, with the

exception of a few beautifully stuffed specimens from the Amazons, give

no idea of the variety to be found in the Brazilian waters. A better

collection might be made any morning in the fish-market. The Museum

contains some very fine fossil remains from the valley of the San

Francisco and from Ceará, but no attempt has as yet been made to arrange

them.

The only learned society deserving a special mention is the Historical

and Geographical Institute. Its Transactions are regularly published,

and form already a series of many volumes, full of valuable documents,

chiefly relative to the history of South America. The meetings are held

in the Imperial Palace of Rio, and are habitually presided over by his

Majesty the Emperor.

I cannot close what I have to say of instruction in Brazil without

adding that, in a country where only half the nation is educated, there

can be no complete intellectual progress. Where the difference of

education makes an intelligent sympathy between men and women almost

impossible, so that their relation is necessarily limited to that of the

domestic affections, never raised except in some very exceptional cases

to that of cultivated companionship, the development of the people as a

whole must remain imperfect and partial. I believe, however, that,

especially in this direction, a rapid reform may be expected. I have

heard so many intelligent Brazilians lament the want of suitable

instruction for women in their schools, that I think the standard of

education for girls will steadily be raised. Remembering the antecedents

of the Brazilians, their inherited notions as to what is becoming in the

privacy and restraint of a woman’s life, we are not justified, however

false these ideas may seem to us, in considering the present generation

as responsible for them; they are also too deeply rooted to be changed

in a day.

On several occasions I have alluded in terms of praise to the working of

the institutions of Brazil. Nothing can be more liberal than the

Constitution of the land; every guaranty is therein secured to the

freest assertion of all the natural rights of man. And yet there are

some features in the habits of the people, probably the results of an

antiquated social condition, which impede the progress of the nation. It

should not be forgotten that the white population of Brazil is chiefly

descended from the Portuguese, and that of all Europe Portugal is the

country which at the time of the discovery and settlement of Brazil, had

least been affected by the growth of our modern civilization. Indeed,

the great migrations which convulsed Europe in the Middle Ages, and the

Reformation, upon which the new social order chiefly rests, have

scarcely affected Portugal; so that Roman ways, Roman architecture, and

a degenerate Latin were still flourishing when her Transatlantic

colonies were founded; and, as in all colonies, the conditions of the

mother country were but slowly modified. No wonder, therefore, that the

older structures of Rio de Janeiro should recall, in the most surprising

manner, the architecture of ancient Rome, as disclosed by the

excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and that the social condition of

Brazil should remind us of the habits of a people among whom women

played so subordinate a part. It seems to me that even now the

administration of the provinces, as in the Roman civilization, is

calculated to enforce the law, rather than to develop the material

resources of the country. I have been surprised to find young lawyers

almost invariably at the head of the administration of the provinces,

where practical men, conversant with the interests of agriculture,

commerce, and the mechanical arts, would, in my opinion, have been

better adapted to the pressing duty of stimulating all pursuits

connected with the active life of a young and aspiring nation.

The exaggerated appreciation of political employment prevailing

everywhere is a misfortune. It throws into the shade all other

occupations, and loads the government with a crowd of paid officials who

uselessly encumber the public service and are a drain upon the public

funds. Every man who has received an education seeks a political career,

as at once the most aristocratic and the easiest way of gaining a

livelihood. It is but recently that gentlemen have begun to engage in

mercantile pursuits.

It seems to me, that, though the character and habits of the Brazilians

are not those of an agricultural people, Brazil is an essentially

agricultural country, and some occurrences in her recent history confirm

this view. Brazil had formerly a great variety of agricultural products,

but now the number of plants under culture is rather limited.

Agricultural operations are at present centred upon coffee, cotton,

sugar, tobacco, mandioca, some cereals, beans, and cocoa. Owing to her

climate and her geographical position, the vegetable zones of Brazil are

not so marked as those of other countries. It would not be difficult to

divide the whole Empire, with reference to its productions, into three

great regions. The first of these, stretching from the borders of Guiana

to Bahia, along the great rivers, is more especially characterized by

the wild products of the forest: Indian-rubber, cocoa, vanilla,

sarsaparilla, and an infinite variety of gums, resins, barks, and

textile fibres still unknown to commerce in Europe and the United

States. To these Brazil might add spices, the monopoly of which belongs

now to the Sunda Islands. The second region, extending from Bahia to

Santa Catarina, is that of coffee. The third, from Santa Catarina to Rio

Grande, and in the interior of the high plateaux, is that of the grains;

and, in connection with their culture, the raising of cattle. Rice,

which is easily grown throughout Brazil, and cotton, which yields

magnificent crops in all the provinces, bind together these three zones,

sugar and tobacco following in their train. An important step with

reference to agriculture, which has scarcely been thought of as yet, is

the cultivation of the heights of the Organ Mountains, as well as those

of the Serra do Mar and the Serra do Mantiqueira. On these high lands

might be raised all the products characteristic of the warmer portions

of the temperate zones, and Rio de Janeiro would receive daily from the

mountains in her immediate neighborhood all those vegetables and garden

fruits which she now procures in small quantities and at high prices

from the provinces bordering on the La Plata. The slopes of these Serras

might also be covered with plantations of cascarilla, and, as the

production of quinine must sooner or later be greatly diminished by the

devastation of the Cinchora-trees on the upper Amazonian tributaries, it

is the more important that their culture should be introduced upon the

largest scale on the heights above Rio. The attempts of Mr. Glaziou in

that direction deserve every encouragement.

The sugar-cane has long been the chief object of cultivation in Brazil,

and the production of sugar is still considerable; but within several

years the planting of sugar-cane has given way in many districts to that

of coffee. I have taken pains to ascertain the facts respecting the

culture of coffee during the last fifty years; the immense development

of this branch of industry and the rapidity of the movement, especially

in a country where labor is so scarce, is among the most striking

economical phenomena of our century. Thanks to their perseverance and to

the favorable conditions presented by the constitution of their soil,

the Brazilians have obtained a sort of monopoly of coffee. More than

half the coffee consumed in the world is of Brazilian growth. And yet

the coffee of Brazil has little reputation, and is even greatly

underrated. Why is this? Simply because a great deal of the best produce

of Brazilian plantations is sold under the name of Java or Mocha, or as

the coffee of Martinique or Bourbon. Martinique produces only six

hundred sacks of coffee annually; Guadaloupe, whose coffee is sold under

the name of the neighboring island, yields six thousand sacks, not

enough to provide the market of Rio de Janeiro for twenty-four hours,

and the island of Bourbon hardly more. A great part of the coffee which

is bought under these names, or under that of Java coffee, is Brazilian,

while the so-called Mocha coffee is often nothing but the small round

beans of the Brazilian plant found at the summits of the branches and

very carefully selected. If the fazendeiros, like the Java planters,

sold their crops under a special mark, the great purchasers would learn

with what merchandise they have to deal, and the agriculture of Brazil

would be greatly benefited. But there intervenes between the fazendeiro

and the exporter a class of merchants—half bankers, half brokers—known

as commissarios, who, by mixing different harvests, lower the standard

of the crop, thus relieving the producer of all responsibility and

depriving the product of its true characteristics.

If the provinces adjacent to Rio de Janeiro offer naturally the most

favorable soil for the culture of coffee, it must not be forgotten that

coffee is planted with advantage in the shade of the Amazonian forest,

and even yields two annual crops wherever pains are taken to plant it.

In the province of Ceará, where the coffee is of a superior quality, it

is not planted on the plains, or in the low grounds, or in the shadow of

the forest, as in the valley of the Amazons, but on the slopes of the

hills and on the mountain heights, to an elevation of from fifteen

hundred to two thousand feet and more above the level of the sea, in the

Serras of Aratanha and Baturité and in the Serra Grande. The channels

opened to these products should augment their importance, and should

give rise to numerous establishments in the valley of the Amazons.

The increased exportation of cotton from Brazil during the last few

years is a still more marked feature in its industrial history than the

large coffee crops. When, towards the close of the last century, cotton

began to assume in England an importance which has ever since been

increasing, Brazil naturally became one of the great providers of the

English market. But it soon lost this advantage, because our Southern

States acquired, with an extraordinary rapidity, an almost complete

monopoly of this product. Favored by exceptional circumstances, North

America succeeded, about the year 1846, in furnishing cotton at such low

rates that all competition became impossible, and the culture of cotton

was almost abandoned in other countries. Brazil, however, persisted. Her

annual production showed a slow but steady progress; even the cessation

of the slave-trade did not interrupt this advance. Indeed, it is a

striking fact, which may well be mentioned in this connection, that the

statistics of Brazilian agriculture have been steadily rising ever since

the abolition of the slave-trade. When the Rebellion broke out in our

Southern States, Brazil thus found herself prepared to give a

considerable impulse to the cultivation of a product as much sought for

as bread in time of famine. Spite of the want of population, which is an

obstacle to all industrial enterprises in Brazil, she found labor, and,

what was still more important, free labor, for this object. It seemed as

if it were a point of national honor to show what could be done.

Provinces like San Paolo, where a foot of ground had never before been

planted with cotton; others, as for instance Alagoas, Parahyba do Norte,

Ceará, where the cultivation of cotton had been abandoned, produced

extraordinary quantities,—so large, indeed, that two lines of steamers

were established, and have prospered, between Liverpool and the

above-mentioned ports, chiefly for the transport of this crop. It will

be remembered that during the whole of this time Brazil was in want of

laborers, that she received no foreign capital for this undertaking,

that she imported neither Coolies nor Chinese, that almost immediately

after the movement began her war with Paraguay broke out, and yet her

production of cotton has quadrupled and quintupled. This fact assumed

such importance in the estimate of industrial interests at the late

Paris Exposition, that an exceptional prize was awarded to Brazil, on

the ground that, in supplying the European market so largely with this

indispensable staple, she had rendered it independent of the former

monopoly of the United States. It is true that the same prize was also

granted to Algeria and to Egypt. But the Brazilian planter had not, like

the colonists of Africa, the stimulus of a large subsidy from

government; he could not, like the Viceroy of Egypt, seize 80,000 men in

a single district and transport them to his plantations; neither did he,

like the Egyptian fellah, abandon all other branches of agriculture in

order to devote himself exclusively to that of cotton. In fact, the

general interests of agriculture prospered in Brazil, in the midst of

this new enterprise.

I have insisted on these facts, which I think are little known, because

they seem to me to show a greater energy and vitality than is usually

supposed to exist in the productive forces of Brazil. To stimulate this

movement, the government has recently taken the initiatory steps in the

organization of an Agricultural School in the vicinity of Bahia, in

which all the modern improvements suggested by the progress of science

and invention, are to be tested in their application to the natural

products of the tropics.

The importance of the basin of the Amazons to Brazil, from an industrial

point of view, can hardly be overestimated. Its woods alone have an

almost priceless value. Nowhere in the world is there finer timber,

either for solid construction or for works of ornament; and yet it is

scarcely used even for the local buildings, and makes no part whatever

of the exports. It is strange that the development of this branch of

industry should not even have begun in Brazil, for the rivers which flow

past these magnificent forests seem meant to serve, first as a

water-power for the saw-mills which ought to be established along their

borders, and then as a means of transportation for the material so

provided. Setting aside the woods as timber, what shall I say of the

mass of fruits, resins, oils, coloring matters, textile fibres, which

they yield? When I stopped at Pará, on my way home to the United States,

an exhibition of Amazonian products, brought together in preparation for

the World’s Fair at Paris, was still open. Much as I had admired, during

my journey, the richness and variety of the materials native to the

soil, I was amazed when I saw them thus side by side. There I noticed,

among others, a collection of no less than one hundred and seventeen

different kinds of highly valuable woods, cut from a piece of land less

than half a mile square. Of these many were dark-colored, veined woods

susceptible of a high polish,—as beautiful as rosewood or ebony. There

was a great variety of vegetable oils, all remarkable for their

clearness and purity. There were a number of fabrics made from the

fibres of the palm, and an endless variety of fruits. An empire might

esteem itself rich in any one of the sources of industry which abound in

this valley, and yet the greater part of its vast growth rots on the

ground, and goes to form a little more river-mud or to stain the waters

on the shores of which its manifold products die and decompose. But what

surprised me most was to find that a great part of this region was

favorable to the raising of cattle. Fine sheep are fed on the grassy

plains and on the hills which stretch between Obydos and Almeyrim, and I

have rarely eaten better mutton than at Ereré, in the midst of these

serras. And yet the inhabitants of this fertile region suffer from

hunger. The insufficiency of food is evident; but it arises solely from

the inability of the people to avail themselves of the natural

productions of the soil. As an instance of this, I may mention that,

though living on the banks of rivers which abound in delicious fish,

they make large use of salt cod, imported from other countries!

While travelling upon the Amazons, I have often asked myself what would

be the best plan for developing the natural resources of that

incomparable region. No doubt the opening of the great river to the

commerce of all nations was a first step in the right direction; and

this measure in itself shows what extraordinary progress Brazil is

making, for it is hardly more than half a century, since, owing to the

narrow policy and jealous disposition of the Portuguese government, the

greatest traveller of modern times was forbidden to enter the valley of

the Amazons; while to-day a scientific errand of a similar character is

welcomed and fostered in every possible way by the government of a

nation now independent of Europe. But a free competition is a necessary

complement to the freedom already granted, and competition is scarcely

possible where monopolies are kept up. I hold, therefore, that all the

exceptional facilities granted by the Brazilian government to private

companies are detrimental to its best interests. There is, however,

another direct obstacle to progress which ought at once to be removed,

since the change could in no way injure the general welfare. The present

limitation of the provinces of Pará and of the Amazons is entirely

unnatural. The whole valley is cut in two transversely, so that its

lower half is of necessity a bar to the independent growth of the upper

half. Pará, being made the centre of everything, drains the whole

country without vitalizing the interior. The great river which should be

an international highway has become an inland stream. But suppose for a

moment that the Amazons, like our Mississippi, were made the boundary

between a succession of independent provinces on either side of it;

suppose that on the southern banks of the Amazons the province of Teffé

should extend from the borders of Peru to the banks of the Madeira, the

province of Santarem from the Madeira to the Xingu, and that of Pará be

reduced to the country east of the Xingu, including the Island of

Marajo; each of these separate provinces would then be at once bounded

and traversed by great streams, securing the double activity of

competition and the stimulus of internal conveniences. In like manner

should the lands on the northern banks of the Amazons form several

independent provinces; that of Monte Alégre, for instance, extending

from the Rio Trombetas to the sea; that of Manaos, from the Rio

Trombetas to the Rio Negro; and perhaps that of the Hyapura, enclosing

the present wilderness between the Rio Negro and the Solimoens. It will,

no doubt, be objected that such a change would involve an administrative

staff quite disproportionate to the present population; but the

government of such provinces, even with the few inhabitants they might

number, if organized upon the plan of the territorial governments of our

infant States, would only stimulate local energies, and develop local

resources, without interfering in the least with the central government.

Moreover, any one familiar with the working of the present system in the

valley of the Amazons must be aware that all the cities started during

the past century along the great river and its tributaries, far from

progressing, are going to ruin and decay; and this is unquestionably

owing to the centralization at Pará of all the real activity of the

whole country.

Without a much denser population, the best efforts of Brazil to increase

its prosperity must be slow and ineffective. No wonder, then, that,

immediately after the declaration of independence, Dom Pedro I.

attempted to attract German emigrants to his new empire. From that

period dates the Colony of San Leopoldo, near Porto Alégre, on the Rio

Grande do Sul. It was not, however, till the year 1850, when the

slave-trade was actually abolished, and it was no longer possible to

import labor from Africa, that these colonization schemes assumed a more

definite and settled character. In this attempt the planters and the

government were agreed, but with a different object. The plan of the

government, undertaken in perfect good faith, was to create a laboring

population, and a class of small landed proprietors. The planters, on

the contrary, accustomed to compulsory labor, thought only of recruiting

their slave ranks by substituting Europeans for Africans. This led to

terrible abuses; under pretence of advancing their passage-money, poor

emigrants, and especially the ignorant Portuguese from the Azores, were

virtually sold under a contract which they subsequently found it very

difficult to break. These abuses have thrown discredit upon the attempts

of the Brazilian government to colonize the interior, but the iniquities

practised under the name of emigration are now corrected. In fact, the

colonies established directly by the government, on public lands, have

never suffered wrong; on the contrary, the German settlements in Sta

Catherina, on the Rio Grande do Sul and on the San Francisco do Sul are

very prosperous. The best evidence of the improvement in the condition

of the colonists, and of the more liberal spirit of the nation towards

them, is the spontaneous formation in Rio de Janeiro of an international

society of emigration independent of all government influence,

consisting of Brazilians, Portuguese, Germans, Swiss, Americans, French,

&c. The objects of this society, of which Mr. Tavares Bastos is one of

the most influential members, are, first, to reform the constitution in

all which may place the foreigner at a disadvantage; second, to redress

the wrongs of the emigrants; third, to provide them with such assistance

and information as they may need on arriving. This society has been in

existence only two years, but has already rendered valuable services. It

is to be hoped that the government will persevere in the liberal course

it has entered upon, and, above all, put an end to the unnecessary legal

formalities by which the emigrant is prevented from taking immediate

possession of his new home. This is especially important in the region

of the Amazons, where the new-comer finds none of those facilities which

welcome the emigrant in the United States. I cannot too often repeat,

also, that all monopoly of transport in the Amazons should speedily be

abolished. As soon as the wild products of its shores are subjected to a

regular culture, even of a very imperfect kind, and are no longer

gathered at random,—as soon as organized labor, directed by an

intelligent activity, takes the place of the thoughtless and uncertain

efforts of the Indians, the variety and excellence of its staples will

be increased beyond all expectation. As it is, a little foresight would

prevent an immense deal of suffering in this fertile region, where food

abounds and people die of hunger. Accustomed to live upon fish, the

natives make little use either of milk or meat, and the fine pasturage

which might maintain herds of cattle is allowed to run to waste.

Careless of the inclemency of the weather when gathering the harvest of

the forest, they scarcely build a shelter against the heavy rains, allow

their wet clothes to dry upon their skin, and expose themselves to

constant alternations of heat and cold. Add to this, that they do not

hesitate to drink stagnant water, if it be nearer at hand than spring

water, and we have causes enough for the prevalence of intermittent

fever and malarious diseases, without attributing them to a climate

which is in the main salubrious, and far more moderate in temperature

than is generally supposed. The false notions generally current, even in

Brazil, in regard to the climate of the Amazons might have been removed

long ago, were the public officers of the northern provinces of the

Empire not interested in keeping up the delusion. The Amazonian

provinces are made stepping-stones to higher employments. The young

candidates who accept these posts claim a reward for the

disinterestedness they have shown in exposing themselves to disease, and

make the reputed fatality of the climate an excuse for leaving these

remote stations after a few months’ sojourn. The northern provinces of

Brazil need an administration less liable to change, and based upon

patient study of their local interests, and a faithful adherence to

them. It is impossible that the president who comes for six months, and

is daily longing for his return to the society and amusements of the

larger cities, should even initiate, far less complete, any systematic

improvements. Like every country struggling for recognition among the

self-reliant nations of the world, Brazil has to contend with the

prejudiced reports of a floating foreign population, indifferent to the

welfare of the land they temporarily inhabit, and whose appreciations

are mainly influenced by private interest. It is much to be regretted

that the government has not thought it worth while to take decided

measures to correct the erroneous impressions current abroad concerning

its administration, and that its diplomatic agents do so little to

circulate truthful and authoritative statements of their domestic

concerns. As far as I know, the recent World’s Fair at Paris was the

first occasion when an attempt was made to present a comprehensive

report of the resources of the Empire, and the prizes awarded to the

Brazilians testify to their success.

Imperfect as is this sketch, I trust I have been able to show, what I

deeply feel, that there are elements of a high progress in Brazil, that

it has institutions which are shaping the country to worthy ends, that

it has a nationality already active, showing its power at the present

moment in carrying on one of the most important wars ever undertaken in

South America. Neither is this struggle maintained by Brazil for selfish

ends; in her conflict with Paraguay she may truly be counted among the

standard-bearers of civilization. The facts which have come to my

knowledge respecting this war have convinced me that it originated in

honorable purposes, and, setting aside the selfish intrigues of

individuals, inevitably connected with such movements, is carried on

with disinterestedness. It deserves the sympathy of the civilized world,

for it strikes at a tyrannical organization, half clerical, half

military, which, calling itself a republic, disgraces the name it

assumes.

* * * * *

Will my Brazilian friends who read this summary say that I have given

but grudging praise to their public institutions, accompanied by an

unkind criticism of their social condition? I hope not. I should do

myself great wrong did I give the impression that I part from Brazil

with any feeling but that of warm sympathy, a deep-rooted belief in her

future progress and prosperity, and sincere personal gratitude toward

her. I recognize in the Brazilians as a nation their susceptibility to

lofty impulses and emotions, their love of theoretical liberty, their

natural generosity, their aptness to learn, their ready eloquence; if

also I miss among them something of the stronger and more persistent

qualities of the Northern races, I do but recall a distinction which is

as ancient as the tropical and temperate zones themselves.

-----

Footnote 107:

I deeply regret that I could not visit the mining districts of Brazil.

Especially would I have liked to examine for myself the Cascalho, in

which the diamonds are found. From collections which I owe to the

kindness of Dr. Vieira de Mattos in Rio de Janeiro, and Senhor Antonio

de Lacerda in Bahia, I am prepared to find that the whole

diamond-bearing formation is glacial drift. I do not mean the rocks in

which the diamonds occur in their primary position, but the secondary

agglomerations of loose materials from which they are washed.

APPENDIX.

I.—THE GULF STREAM.

As the results of the systematic investigation of the Gulf Stream upon a

plan laid out by Dr. A. D. Bache, and executed, under his direction, by

his most able assistants, have hardly yet been presented in a popular

form, a sketch of the whole may not be out of place here. This

investigation embraced not only surface-phenomena, but the whole

internal structure and movement of this wonderful current. It is well

known that the Gulf Stream has its origin in the equatorial current

which, starting from the Gulf of Guinea, flows for a time in a westerly

direction, till it approaches Cape St. Roque. This great projection of

the eastern coast of South America interrupts its onward progress, and

causes it to divide into two branches, one of which follows the coast of

Brazil, in a southerly direction, while the other continues its course

to the northwest, until it reaches the Caribbean Sea. After pouring into

that basin, the great stream turns to the east to enter the Atlantic

again off Cape Florida. The high temperature of the equatorial current

is owing to its origin in the tropical zone, its westward course being

determined by the rotation of the earth and by the trade-winds. On

issuing from the Gulf of Mexico the stream is encased between the island

of Cuba and the Bahamas on one side and the coast of Florida on the

other. Here it meets the Atlantic in a latitude where the ocean-waters

have no longer the high temperature of the tropics, whereas the stream

itself has acquired an increased warmth on the shoals of the Gulf. This

accounts for the great difference of temperature between the waters of

the stream and those of the ocean to the east of it; while the still

greater cold of the sea-water on its western side, between the Gulf

Stream and the continental shore, is explained by the great Arctic

current, pouring down from Baffin’s Bay, and skirting the shore of North

America as far as the Coast of Florida, until it is lost in that

latitude under the Gulf Stream. The object of Dr. Bache’s investigation

was to trace the mutual relations of these two great currents of warm

and cold water, flowing side by side in opposite directions, and to

discover the conditions which regulate their movements and keep them

within definite limits.

The investigation is even now by no means complete, though it has been

going on for many years. It has, however, been ascertained that, while

the ocean-bed deepens more or less rapidly as we recede from the shore,

forming a trough in which the Gulf Stream flows, this trough is limited

on its eastern side by a range of hills trending in the direction of the

current, outside of which is another depression or valley. Indeed, the

sea-bottom exhibits parallel ridges and depressions, running like the

shore of the continent itself, in a northeasterly direction. The water

presents differences of temperature, not only on the surface, but at

various depths below. These inequalities have been determined by a

succession of thermometric observations along several lines, crossing

the Gulf Stream from the shore to the ocean water on its eastern side,

at intervals of about a hundred miles. The observations have been made

first at the surface, and then at successively greater depths, varying

from ten to twenty, thirty, one hundred, two hundred, and even three and

four hundred fathoms. This survey has shown that, while the Gulf Stream

has a temperature higher than that of the waters on either side, it is

also alternately warmer and colder within itself, being made up as it

were of distinct streaks of water of different temperature. These

alternations continue to as great a depth as the observations have been

carried, and are found to extend even to the very bottom of the sea,

where this has been reached. The most surprising part of this result is

the abruptness of the change along the line where the two great currents

touch each other. So sharp is this division that the boundary of the

Arctic current is now technically designated as the “Cold wall” of the

Gulf Stream. Of course as the latter flows northward and eastward it

gradually widens, and its temperature is lowered; but even as far north

as Sandy Hook the difference between its temperature at the surface and

that of the surrounding waters is still marked.

Off Cape Florida the width of the Gulf Stream is not over forty miles;

off Charleston it is one hundred and fifty miles; while at Sandy Hook it

exceeds three hundred miles.

The inequality of the bottom may be appreciated by the soundings off

Charleston, where, from the shore to a distance of two hundred miles,

the following depth was successively measured: 10, 25, 100, 250, 300,

600, 350, 550, 450, 475, 450, and 400 fathoms.

The following table may give some idea of the temperature of the stream

in connection with its depth:—

Off Sandy Hook, at successive distances from the coast, of

100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 400 miles,

the temperature near the surface to a depth of thirty fathoms averages:

65°, 66°, 64°, 81°, 80°, and 75° Fahr.;

at a depth of between forty and a hundred fathoms it averages:

50°, 52°, 50°, 47°, 72°, 68°, and 65° Fahr.;

at a depth below three hundred fathoms it averages:

37°, 39°, 40°, 37°, 55°, 57°, and 55° Fahr.

The rapid rise of the temperature after the fourth column of figures

indicates the position of the Cold wall.

For further details see the United States Coast Survey Report for 1860,

page 165, and the accompanying maps,—which should be copied into all our

school atlases.

II.—FLYING-FISHES.

The motions of animals vary greatly with reference to the medium in

which they live. Our present knowledge renders it, however, necessary

that we should weigh these differences with reference to the structural

character of the organs of locomotion themselves, as well as to that of

the peculiar resistance of the element in which they move. When we speak

of the flight of Birds, of Insects, of Fishes, of Bats, &c., and

designate their locomotive organs indiscriminately as wings, it is

evident that the character of the motion and not the special structure

of the organs has determined our nomenclature. We are influenced by the

same consideration when we give the name of fins to the organs of all

animals which swim in the water, be they Whales, Turtles, Fishes,

Crustacea, or Mollusks. It requires but a superficial acquaintance with

the anatomy of the flying-fishes to perceive that their organs of flight

are built upon exactly the same pattern as the pectoral fins of most

fishes, and differ entirely from the wing of birds, as also from the

wing of bats, the latter being in all essentials a paw, identical with

the paw of ordinary quadrupeds, save the length of the fingers and the

absence of nails on the longest of them. No wonder, then, that the

flight of the flying-fishes should entirely differ from that of birds or

bats.

I have had frequent occasions to observe the flying-fishes attentively.

I am confident not only that they change the direction of their flight,

but that they raise or lower their line of movement repeatedly, without

returning to the water. I avoid the word falling designedly, for all the

acts of these fishes during their flight seem to me completely

voluntary. They raise themselves from the surface of the water by

rapidly repeated blows with the tail, and more than once have I seen

them descend again to the surface of the water in order to repeat this

movement; thus renewing the impulse and enabling themselves to continue

for a longer time their passage through the air. Their changes of

direction, either to the right and left or in rising and descending, are

not due to the beating of the wings, that is to say, of the great

pectoral fins, but simply to an inflexion of the whole surface, in one

or the other direction, by the contraction of the muscles controlling

the action of the fin-rays, their pressure against the air determining

the movement. The flying-fish is in fact a living shuttlecock, capable

of directing its own course by the bending of its large fins. It

probably maintains itself in the air until the necessity of breathing

compels it to return to the water. The motive of its flight seems to me

to be fear; for it is always in the immediate neighborhood and in front

of the vessel that they are seen to rise; or perhaps at a distance when

they are pursued by some large fish. Now that I have studied their

movements, I am better able to appreciate the peculiarities of their

structure, especially the inequality of the caudal fin. It is perfectly

clear that the greater length of the lower lobe of the caudal is

intended to facilitate the movements by which the whole body is thrown

out of water and carried through the air; while the amplitude of the

pectoral fins affords only a support during the passage through the

lighter medium. Nothing shows more plainly the freedom of their

movements than the fact that, when the surface of the sea is swelling

into billows, the flying-fishes may hug its inequalities very closely

and do not move in a regular curve, first ascending from and then

descending again to the level of the water. Nor do they appear to fall

into their natural element, as if the power that had impelled them was

exhausted; they seem rather to dive voluntarily into the water,

sometimes after a very short and sometimes after a rather protracted

flight, during which they may change their direction, as well as the

height at which they move.

The most common flying-fishes of the Atlantic belong to the genus

Exocetus, and are closely allied to our Billfish (Belone). J. Müller has

shown that they differ greatly from the Herrings, with which they were

formerly associated, and should form a distinct family, to which he has

given the name of Scomberesoces. The other flying-fishes belong to the

family of the Cottoids, of which our common Sculpins are the chief

representatives.

III.—RESOLUTIONS PASSED ON BOARD THE COLORADO.

_Resolved_, That the cordial thanks of this meeting are due to Professor

Agassiz for the highly interesting and instructive lectures which he has

delivered daily during our voyage, and which, though intended more

immediately to prepare his party for their proposed expedition, have

furnished to all of us a rich repast.

_Resolved_, That the Professor and his companions will carry with them

to their beneficent work the earnest prayers and good wishes of all with

whom they have been associated on board this ship, that health and

abundant success may be vouchsafed to them.

_Resolved_, That in this mission of science from one country convulsed

by war to another not entirely at peace, we behold the humanizing and

pacific influence of its aims and studies, and that we cannot but look

forward to a day when nations engaged in the common pursuits of science

and industry, and bound together by commerce and by enlightened views of

interest and of Christian duty, will refer all questions in dispute to

peaceful arbitrament rather than to one of violence and bloodshed.

_Resolved_, That in the facilities afforded by the government of the

United States to this scientific expedition, in the munificent

contribution of a single citizen of Boston towards its expenses, and in

the generous manner in which the owners of this ship have placed its

unsurpassed comforts and luxuries at the free use of Professor Agassiz

and his party, this meeting beholds a pledge of the profound and growing

interest of our entire people in the advancement of liberal and useful

knowledge.

_Resolved_, That we cannot approach the capital of Brazil for the

purpose of leaving this party, without expressing our admiration for the

personal and political character of him who presides over this vast

Empire, and who may well be held forth to all rulers as a model of

intelligence, of virtue, and devotion to the public weal.

_Resolved_, That we cannot close this part of our voyage without

tendering to Captain Bradbury, and his subordinate officers, our special

thanks, not only for the masterly manner with which their vessel is

handled, but for their unwearied devotion to the comfort of their

guests.

IV.—DOM PEDRO SEGUNDO RAILROAD.

The part taken by American engineers in this great undertaking induces

me to give here a short account of its history.

The decree conceding to one or more companies the entire or partial

construction of a railway which, commencing in the municipality of Rio

de Janeiro, should terminate in such points in the Provinces of Minas

and St. Paulo as should be most advantageous, was promulgated in 1852. A

company was organized with a capital of thirty-eight thousand Contos of

reis, or nineteen millions of dollars; the general plan being to

construct a trunk line from the city of Rio de Janeiro to the River

Parahyba, a distance of about 67 miles from the coast. A contract was

made with an English engineer, Mr. Edward Price, for the building of the

first section of this road, extending a distance of 38½ miles, from Rio

de Janeiro to Belem. For the construction of the second section, which

embraced the mountain barrier separating the valley of Parahyba from the

sea-coast, and in which the greatest difficulties were therefore to be

encountered, it was proposed by Senhor Christiano B. Ottoni, President

of the road, to employ American engineers, and if possible to engage the

services of men who had actually constructed railways across mountain

ranges in the United States. To this effect, Colonel C. F. M. Garnett

was engaged as chief engineer, and came to Brazil in 1856, accompanied

by Major A. Ellison, as his principal assistant. Colonel Garnett

remained in the country somewhat more than two years, during which time

the portion of the road known as the second section, and extending from

Belem to Parahyba, was laid out and its construction commenced, surveys

being also made of the branches up and down the river, constituting the

third and fourth sections. On Colonel Garnett’s departure, Major Ellison

remained as chief engineer, having his brother, Mr. Wm. S. Ellison,

associated with him in the direction of the road. In July, 1865, at

which time the road was actually completed as far as Barro de Pirahy,

the company being unable to raise funds for the continuation of the

work, it was assumed by the government, as a national undertaking, and

Major Ellison, resigning his position, was succeeded by Mr. Wm. S.

Ellison as chief engineer.

The difficulties of construction throughout the second section were

immense; indeed, there was an almost universal distrust of the

practicability of the work. Even after it was considerably advanced, it

would probably have been abandoned but for the energy of the President,

who shared the confidence of the engineers, and pushed forward the

enterprise almost single-handed, in spite of the incredulity of its

friends and the objections of its opponents. The sharpness of the

mountain spurs rendering it impossible in many cases to pass around

them, tunnels became necessary, and fifteen were actually made, varying

from 300 to more than 7,300 feet in length, forming, in the aggregate,

three miles of subterraneous line. Of those tunnels, three pass through

rock decomposed to such a degree that lining throughout was necessary,

while the rest are pierced, for the greater part, through solid rock,

though requiring the same precaution occasionally. The total length of

lining with masonry is 5,700 feet. In the course of this operation

constant danger and difficulty arose from the breaking in of the rock,

and in one instance the whole mountain spur through which the tunnel had

been driven parted from the main mass and, sliding down, obliterated the

work, so that it was necessary to begin the perforation again,

contending continually against the enormous pressure of the loose

superincumbent _débris_. Were this the fitting place, it would be

interesting to give the history of this enterprise more in detail;

especially that of the work connected with building the great tunnel and

the temporary track which was in use when I first passed over the road.

Suffice it to say, that all that portion of the road which is included

within the second section is a triumph of engineering, which excites the

admiration of the most competent judges, and is in the highest degree

creditable to those under whose direction it has been accomplished.

V.—PERMANENCE OF CHARACTERISTICS IN DIFFERENT HUMAN SPECIES.

As my special object of study in the Amazons had reference to the

character and distribution of the fluviatile faunæ, I could not

undertake those more accurate investigations of the human races, based

upon minute measurements repeated a thousand-fold, which characterize

the latest researches of anthropologists. A thorough study of the

different nations and cross-breeds inhabiting the Amazonian Valley would

require years of observation and patient examination. I was forced to be

satisfied with such data as I could gather aside from my other labors,

and to limit myself in my study of the races to what I would call the

natural history method; viz. the comparison of individuals of different

kinds with one another, just as naturalists compare specimens of

different species. This was less difficult in a hot country, where the

uncultivated part of the population go half naked, and are frequently

seen entirely undressed. During a protracted residence in Manaos, Mr.

Hunnewell made a great many characteristic photographs of Indians and

Negroes, and half-breeds between both these races and the Whites. All

these portraits represent the individuals selected in three normal

positions, in full face, in perfect profile, and from behind. I hope

sooner or later to have an opportunity of publishing these

illustrations, as well as those of pure negroes made for me in Rio by

Messrs. Stahl and Wahnschaffe.

What struck me at first view, in seeing Indians and Negroes together,

was the marked difference in the relative proportions of the different

parts of the body. Like long-armed monkeys the Negroes are generally

slender, with long legs, long arms, and a comparatively short body,

while the Indians are short-legged, short-armed, and long-bodied, the

trunk being also rather heavy in build. To continue the comparison, I

may say that if the Negro by his bearing recalls the slender, active

Hylobates, the Indian is more like the slow, inactive, stout Orang. Of

course there are exceptions to this rule; short, thick-built Negroes are

occasionally to be seen, as well as tall, lean Indians; but, so far as

my observation goes, the essential difference between the Indian and

Negro races, taken as a whole, consists in the length and square build

of the trunk and the shortness of limbs in the Indian as compared with

the lean frame, short trunk, deep-cleft legs, and long arms of the

Negro.

Another feature not less striking, though it does not affect the whole

figure so much, is the short neck and great width of the shoulders in

the Indian. This peculiarity is quite as marked in the female as in the

male, so that, when seen from behind, the Indian woman has a very

masculine air, extending indeed more or less to her whole bearing; for

even her features have rarely the feminine delicacy of higher womanhood.

In the Negro, on the contrary, the narrowness of chest and shoulder

characteristic of woman is almost as marked in the man; indeed, it may

well be said, that, while the Indian female is remarkable for her

masculine build, the Negro male is equally so for his feminine aspect.

Nevertheless, the difference between the sexes in the two races is not

equally marked. The female Indian resembles in every respect much more

the male than is the case with the Negroes; the females among the latter

having generally more delicate features than the males.

On following out the details concomitant with these general differences,

we find that they agree most strikingly. In a front view of an Indian

woman and a Negress the great difference is in the width between the

breasts of the former as compared with their close approximation in the

latter. In the Indian the interval between the two breasts is nearly

equal to the diameter of one of them; while in the Negro they stand in

almost immediate contact. But this is not all; the form of the breast

itself is very different in the two. The Indian woman has a conical

breast, firm and well supported, the point being turned so far sideways

that the breast seems to arise under the arm-pit, the nipple being

actually projected on the arm in a full-faced view of the chest. In the

negress the breast is more cylindrical, looser, and more flaccid, the

nipple being turned forward and downward, so that in a front view it is

projected on the chest. In the Indian the inguinal region is broad and

distinctly set off from the prominence of the abdomen, while in the

Negro it is a mere fold. As to the limbs, they are not only much longer

in proportion in the Negro than the Indian; their form and carriage

differs also. The legs of the Indians are remarkably straight, in the

Negro the knees are bent in, and the hip as well as knee-joint

habitually flexed. Similar differences in other parts of the body are

visible from behind; in the Indians the interval between the two

shoulders, the shoulder-blades being comparatively short in themselves,

is much greater than in any other race. In this respect the women do not

differ from the men, but share in a feature characteristic of the whole

race. This peculiarity is especially noticeable in a profile view of the

figure, in which the broad rounded shoulder marks the outline in the

upper part of the trunk and tapers gradually to a well-shaped arm,

terminating usually in a rather small hand; the little finger is

remarkably short. In the Negro, on the contrary, the shoulder-blades are

long and placed more closely together, the shoulder being rather slim

and narrow, and the hand disproportionately slender, though the fingers

are more extensively webbed than in any other race. In this respect

there is little difference between male and female, the build of the

male being more muscular, but hardly stouter; in both, a profile view

shows the back and breast projected forwards and backwards of the arm.

The proportions between the length and width of the trunk, as compared

with each other, and, measured from the shoulder to the base of the

trunk, hardly differ in the Indian and Negro; this renders the

difference in the relative length and strength of the arms and legs the

more apparent.

I need not allude to the difference of the hair; everybody knows the

heavy, straight black hair of the Indian, and the wrinkled, woolly hair

of the Negro. Nor is it necessary for me to recall the characteristic

features of the Whites in order to contrast them with what has been said

above of the Indians and Negroes.

Only a few words more concerning half-breeds are needed to show how

deeply seated are the primary differences between the pure races. Like

distinct species among animals, different races of men, when crossing,

bring forth half-breeds; and the half-breeds between these different

races differ greatly. The hybrid between White and Negro, called

Mulatto, is too well known to require further description. His features

are handsome, his complexion clear, and his character confiding, but

indolent. The hybrid between the Indian and Negro, known under the name

of Cafuzo, is quite different. His features have nothing of the delicacy

of the Mulatto; his complexion is dark; his hair long, wiry, and curly;

and his character exhibits a happy combination between the jolly

disposition of the Negro and the energetic, enduring powers of the

Indian. The hybrid between White and Indian, called Mammeluco in Brazil,

is pallid, effeminate, feeble, lazy, and rather obstinate; though it

seems as if the Indian influence had only gone so far as to obliterate

the higher characteristics of the White, without imparting its own

energies to the offspring. It is very remarkable how, in both

combinations, with Negroes as well as Whites, the Indian impresses his

mark more deeply upon his progeny than the other races, and how readily,

also, in further crossings, the pure Indian characteristics are

reclaimed and those of the other races thrown off. I have known the

offspring of an hybrid between Indian and Negro with an hybrid between

Indian and White resume almost completely the characteristics of the

pure Indian.

VI.—SKETCH OF SEPARATE JOURNEYS UNDERTAKEN BY DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF THE

EXPEDITION.

It is not possible for me to give here at length the narrative of the

separate journeys undertaken by my young companions. To do them any

justice, their reports should be illustrated by the accompanying maps,

geological sections, &c., which are more appropriate in a special

scientific account. I trust that I shall hereafter find resources for

publishing all these materials in a fitting manner; but, in the mean

while, I should do a wrong to my own feelings as well as to my

assistants, did I not add to this volume such a sketch of their separate

work as will show with how much energy, perseverance, and intelligence

they carried out the instructions I had given them. It will be

remembered by the reader that one object was kept constantly in view

throughout this expedition,—namely, that of ascertaining how the

fresh-water fishes are distributed throughout the great river-systems of

Brazil. All the independent journeys, of which short sketches are given

in this summary, were laid out with reference to this idea; the whole

expedition being, in fact, a unit so far as its purpose and general plan

were concerned. In this sense my own exploration, and those of all my

assistants, belong together, as parts of one connected scheme.

That detachment of the party which was conducted by Mr. Orestes St. John

left Rio de Janeiro on the 9th of June, 1865. This company consisted of

Messrs. St. John, Allen, Ward, and Sceva. The first two were to reach

the Atlantic coast by way of the Rio San Francisco and the Rio

Paranahyba; while Mr. Ward was to descend the Tocantins to the Amazons,

and Mr. Sceva to remain for some time in the fossiliferous region about

Lagoa Sancta for the purpose of collecting. As far as Juiz de Fora they

followed the road described in the foregoing narrative. Thence they

crossed the Serra do Mantiqueira to Barbacena, and kept on from that

place through Lagoa Dourada and Prados across the Rio Carandahy to the

divide separating the head-waters of the Rio Grande on the south from

those of the Rio Paraopeba on the north. They crossed the Paraopeba just

above the water gap of the Serras of Piedade and Itatiaiassu, traversing

the former Serra into the mountain valley in which the village of Morro

Velho is situated. They thus found themselves successively in the basins

of the Rio Parahyba, the Rio La Plata, and the Rio San Francisco; all

these great streams being fed by rivulets which arise in this vicinity.

On leaving the mountainous districts they continued their route through

alternate campos and wooded tracts to Gequitibá, passing through Saburá,

Santa Luzia, Lagoa Sancta, and Sette Lagoas.

At Lagoa Sancta, as had been previously agreed, Mr. Sceva left the

party, with the purpose of exploring the caves of that region in search

of fossil bones, and making skeletons of mammalia. He remained for some

time in this neighborhood, and brought away a number of specimens,

though he did not succeed in finding many fossils, the caves having been

already despoiled of their fossil remains by Dr. Lund, whose

indefatigable researches in this direction are so well known. Mr. Sceva,

however, made very valuable collections of other kinds, and I am

indebted to him for numerous carefully prepared specimens of Brazilian

mammalia, which now await mounting in the Museum. On leaving Lagoa

Sancta, Mr. Sceva returned to Rio de Janeiro, taking his collections

with him. He passed some days there, in order to repack and put in

safety his own specimens as well as those which had been sent back to

Rio by other members of the party. He then proceeded to Canta-Gallo, and

passed the remainder of the time in collecting and preparing specimens

from that part of the country, until he joined me subsequently at Rio

just before we returned to the United States. His contributions to our

stores were exceedingly valuable, both on account of the localities from

which they came and from the care with which they were put up.

Mr. Ward had already separated from his fellow-travellers at Barbacena,

on his way to the Tocantins, taking the route by Ouro-Preto and

Diamantina. And in order to keep together the adventures of the little

band who left Rio in company, I may give here a short sketch of his

journey, before completing the account of the route pursued by Messrs.

St. John and Allen. After leaving the valley of the Rio Parahyba and

crossing the Mantiqueira the party found itself in the water-basin of

the Rio Grande, one of the principal tributaries of the Rio Parana,

which, emptying into the Rio La Plata, reaches the ocean below Buenos

Ayres. Eastward of this basin, on the ocean-side of the great ridge

which bounds the valley of the Rio San Francisco, arise several large

rivers,—the Rio Doce, the Rio Mucury, and the Rio Jequitinhonha. It was

one of my most earnest desires to secure the means of comparing their

inhabitants with each other and with those of the great rivers flowing

north and east. As will be seen hereafter, Mr. Hartt, with the

assistance of Mr. Copeland, had undertaken to explore the lower course

of these rivers; but it was equally important that specimens should be

obtained from their head-waters. While, therefore, Mr. St. John and his

companion pursued their way across the region drained by the head-waters

of the Rio San Francisco, Mr. Ward crossed the mountains, passing from

one river-basin into another, in order to examine as many of the

tributaries of the Rio Doce and the Rio Jequitinhonha as possible. To

him I owe the materials necessary for a general comparison of the river

faunæ in these different basins. His journey was a laborious and a

lonely one. Separating from his companions at Barbacena he kept on by

Ouro-Preto and Santa Barbara into the basin of the Rio Doce, which he

followed nearly to the point where the Rio Antonio empties into it. This

part of the journey gave him an opportunity of making a collection not

only in the head-waters of the Rio Doce, but in one of its principal

tributaries also. Thence crossing the Serra das Esmeraldas Mr. Ward

entered the water-basin of the Rio Jequitinhonha, commonly called Rio

Belmonte on the maps, and after passing Diamantina explored several arms

of this great stream. The collections he made in this region are of

special interest with reference to those gathered by Messrs. Hartt and

Copeland on the lower course of the same rivers, and in many other

streams along the Atlantic coast between Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.

Having accomplished this part of his journey, Mr. Ward crossed the San

Francisco at Januaria, making a number of excursions in that vicinity;

then passing in a northwesterly direction over the ridges which separate

the valley of the San Francisco from that of the Tocantins, he followed

the whole course of this great stream to the Amazons. It was a daring

and adventurous journey to be accomplished with no other companionship

than that of the camarado who served him as guide, or the Indian boatmen

who rowed his canoe, and it was a day of rejoicing for our whole party

when we heard, in the month of January, 1866, of his safe arrival in

Pará, whence he embarked a few weeks later for the United States.

From Lagoa Sancta, where they parted from Mr. Sceva, Messrs. St. John

and Allen kept on to Januaria together, but at this point Mr. Allen,

whose health had been failing from the time he left Rio de Janeiro,

found himself unable to prosecute the journey farther, and he resolved

to strike across the country to Bahia, taking in charge the collections

they had brought together thus far. After a short rest at Januaria, he

made his way to Chique-Chique on the Rio San Francisco; and his separate

journal begins from the time he left this point, on his journey to

Bahia. It gives a very full account of the physical features of the

region through which he passed, of the geographical character of the

soil, and of the distribution of plants and animals, including many

original observations concerning the habits of birds, with a detailed

itinerary of the route through Jacobina, Espelto, and Caxoeira.

Prostrated by illness as he was, he has nevertheless furnished a report

the character of which shows how completely his interest in the work

overcame the lassitude of disease.

From Januaria Mr. St. John followed the San Francisco to the Villa do

Barra, where he made a short stay, and then resumed his journey by land

through the valley of the Rio Grande to the Villa da Santa Rita, thence

to Mocambo and across the table-land separating the basin of the Rio San

Francisco from that of the Rio Paranahyba. At Paranaguá he remained

several days, and made a considerable collection from this vicinity.

Thence he followed the valley of the Rio Gurugueia to Manga, one hundred

and twenty leagues from Paranaguá. At Manga he embarked on one of the

singular river-boats made of the leafstalks of the Buriti palm, and

descended the Paranahyba to the villa of San Gonçallo. Here he stayed

for some time to collect, and forwarded from this vicinity a

considerable number of specimens, chiefly reptiles, birds, and insects.

His next station was at Therezina, the capital of the province of

Piauhy, where he made one of the most interesting collections of the

whole journey from the waters of the Rio Poty. The Poty is a tributary

of the Paranahyba, into which it empties below Therezina. In examining

this collection, I was particularly struck with the general similarity

of the fishes contained in it to those of the Amazons. They exhibit

throughout the same kind of combination of genera and families, although

the species are entirely distinct. Thus, from a zoölogical point of

view, the basin of the Parahyba, though completely separated from it by

the ocean, would seem to belong to the Amazonian basin, as it

unquestionably does from a geological point of view. The character of

the drift deposits along the Rio Gurugueia and the Rio Paranahyba shows

this area to have been continuous with the basin in which the Amazonian

drift was deposited; and the similarity of their zoölogical features is

but another evidence, from an entirely different source, of the

extensive denudations which have isolated these regions from one another

by removing the tracts which formerly made them a unit.

From Therezina Mr. St. John proceeded to Caxias, and finally arrived in

Maranham, by the way of the Rio Itapicurú, on the 8th January, 1866;

having completed a journey of more than seven hundred leagues in seven

months, over a route the greater part of which had never been examined

from a zoölogical or geological point of view. His collections, though

necessarily limited by the difficulty of transport and the insufficient

provision of alcohol, were very valuable, and arrived at their

destination in good condition. Of his geological observations I have

said little; but it is from him I have obtained the data which have

enabled me to compare the basin of Piauhy with that of the Amazons. He

made careful geological surveys wherever he was able to do so, and has

recorded the result of his observations in a manner which shows that he

never lost sight of the general relations between the great structural

features of the country through which he passed. At Maranham, the

intermittent fever, under which Mr. St. John had been suffering during

the latter part of his journey, culminated in a severe illness, from

which he recovered under the care of Dr. Braga, who took him into his

own house, and did not allow him to leave his roof until he was restored

to health. From Maranham Mr. St. John joined me at Pará, where I had an

opportunity of comparing notes with him on the spot.

During the first two months of his stay in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Hartt was

chiefly occupied with Mr. St. John in examining sections of the Dom

Pedro Railroad, of which he prepared a very clear and careful geological

survey, with ample illustrations. On the 19th of June, 1865, he left the

city to explore the coast between the Rio Parahyba do Sul and Bahia;

being accompanied by Mr. Edward Copeland, one of our volunteers, who

gave him very efficient assistance in collecting, during the whole time

they remained together. At Campos, on the Rio Parahyba, they obtained a

large number of fishes, beside other specimens. From that point they

went up the Rio Muriahy for some distance, and then, returning to

Campos, ascended the Rio Parahyba to San Fidelis, where they again added

largely to their collections. Taking mules at San Fidelis, they

traversed the forest northward to Bom-Jesu, on the Rio Itabapuana, and

then descended that river, stopping to collect at Porto da Limeira and

at the Barra. Thence they followed the coast to Victoria; and it was

their intention to have proceeded northward to the Rio Doce, but, for

want of mules and money (their supplies having given out), they were

obliged to make Nova Almeida, their farthest point. Thence they returned

by way of Victoria to Rio de Janeiro in a sailing-vessel. In the course

of this journey they obtained valuable collections both on the Rio

Itapemérim and at Guarapary. Mr. Hartt also made a careful study of the

geology of the coast, the result of which forms an interesting portion

of his report.

On their return to Rio, Mr. Hartt and Mr. Copeland were detained for

some time by the failure of a steamer. They occupied themselves in the

mean while in various work for the expedition, making excursions in the

vicinity, and collecting in the harbor of Rio. Disappointed in the

steamer, they started on board a sailing-vessel, and had a slow and

tedious voyage to San Matheos, collecting on their way wherever the

stopping of the vessel enabled them to do so. Neither did Mr. Hartt

neglect, on every such occasion, to examine the coast, and the phenomena

connected with its general rise, of which he obtained unquestionable

evidence. From San Matheos, where they made considerable collections,

they took conveyance to the Rio Doce, and ascended this river for ninety

miles to the first fall, Porto de Souza. Descending its course again to

Linhares, they explored the river and lake of Juparanaā, and then

returned to San Matheos; making large marine collections at Barra Secca,

half-way between the Rio Doce and San Matheos. Thence they proceeded to

the Rio Mucury, stopping a few days at its mouth to collect, and then

ascending the river to Santa Clara. Here Mr. Copeland remained, and

secured a fine collection of fishes; while Mr. Hartt crossed over the

river Peruhype to the Colonia Leopoldina. On his return he was detained

for some days by illness, but was soon able to resume his journey; and

he and Mr. Copeland then went on with Mr. Schïeber[108] to Philadelphia,

in the province of Minas Geraes, collecting on the way at the Rio Urucu,

and afterwards at Philadelphia. Along the coast, and indeed throughout

his whole journey, Mr. Hartt continued his geological observations,

which he carefully recorded. From Philadelphia he and his companion

proceeded by land to Calháo, on the Rio Arassuahy; making a detour from

Alahú to Alto dos Bois, in order to study the drift and the geological

structure of the elevated Chapadas. At Calháo they also made good

collections of fishes. Returning to Calháo from a visit to Minas Novas

and a study of its gold-mines, Mr. Hartt descended the Rio Jequitinhonha

three hundred and sixty miles to the sea. Mr. Copeland had preceded him

in order to make an excursion to Caravellas; and they met again at

Cannavieiras.

At Cannavieiras they made good collections, and then ascended the Rio

Pardo to its first fall, fishing and geologizing along their route. They

visited also Belmonte, and then went southward to Porto Seguro, where

they stayed for several days, collecting corals and marine

invertebrates. Here, as at several other points along the coast, Mr.

Hartt made a careful examination of the stone-reefs. His researches on

these “recifes,” which constitute so remarkable a feature along the

Atlantic coast of Brazil, are exceedingly interesting; and I do not know

that any geologist has made a more careful and connected examination of

them. He believes them to be formed by the solidification of beach

ridges; the lower part of which being cemented by the lime dissolved

from the shells contained in them remains intact, while the upper

portion was carried off by storms; thus leaving a solid wall running

along the coast, broken through here and there, and divided from the

land by a narrow channel. He studied the coast reefs both at Santa Cruz

and at Porto Seguro, and ascertained their southward extension to the

Abrolhos. From Porto Seguro Messrs. Hartt and Copeland went northward to

Bahia, touching at several points along the coast, and thence returned

to Rio de Janeiro, whence we sailed together for the United States in

the month of July, 1866.

-----

Footnote 108:

This gentleman, who is thoroughly familiar with the whole country, was

untiring in his attentions to Messrs. Hartt and Copeland, and gave

them, so far as he could, every facility for their researches.

Cambridge: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Silently corrected typographical errors.

2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.

3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.