_São Paulo_
Unlike most of the State capitals of Brazil, São Paulo lies some
distance inland, but in close touch with its port Santos, some
thirty-five miles distant. Many passengers travelling by the Royal Mail
steamers bound for the Argentine, disembark at Rio and take the train
from the Central Railway Station across country to São Paulo, rejoining
their steamer at Santos. This variation is not only a pleasant break in
the voyage, but affords the opportunity for viewing the most thriving
and prosperous city in South America.
The journey by rail from Rio to São Paulo occupies about twelve hours in
a sleeping or observation car, equalling if not excelling anything of
the kind in Europe. The separate two-berth cabins provided with electric
light and fans will be appreciated by the most experienced railway
travellers accustomed to the latest improvements in the way of comfort.
The first part of the journey is through a hilly country, with immense
woods and thick undergrowth of tropical vegetation, covering the earth
as with a vivid green mantle as far as the eye can reach. Numbers of
curious trees with fantastically twisted stems reaching to a height of
100 to 150 feet tower above the dense masses of tangled foliage, tall
palms of many varieties with fan-shaped leaves, and straight smooth
trunks, grow side by side with dwarfed bushy shrubs, over which great
banana leaves bend with their own weight, whilst magnificent flowers and
orchids of brilliant colour peep out from the dark recesses of the
woods, sparkling like jewels in a mass of lovely hair.
As São Paulo is neared, the tropical luxuriance fades, and nature’s wild
and prolific garden is replaced by the ordered arrangements of man’s
industry, for this State is the best farmed as well as the most thickly
populated in all Brazil. Its staple industry produces at least one half
of all the coffee consumed in the world to-day, besides which its people
gather large harvests of sugar, cotton, grapes, tobacco, and several
kinds of cereals, principally rice and wheat.
This agricultural prosperity is due to several causes: a kindly climate,
a regular rainfall, a natural system of irrigation, and an increasingly
industrious population from all parts of Europe.
The workers in this State pursue their occupations amidst the fairest
surroundings, and in an environment well calculated to induce happiness
and contentment. The air is clear, the climate mild, the sun shines
brightly, the scenery is varied and cheerful, whilst the social element
so necessary to civilised beings is full of charming diversity.
The capital of the State takes second place amongst the cities of
Brazil, and like the Federal capital has in recent years undergone many
changes. Much of it has been already rebuilt, and more is undergoing
alteration. New buildings, imposing and exhibiting the latest styles of
architecture, have largely replaced the old Portuguese colonial houses
which, although solid, were rather lugubrious and forbidding.
The replanning of the city has the enthusiastic support of all the
inhabitants, and not a few of the more prosperous citizens have evinced
a public-spirited generosity in their contributions to the beautifying
of their city. The work that has already been done, and that still going
on, is worthy of the magnificent site which the city occupies between
two great mountain ranges, the Serra do Mar and the Mantiqueira, the
peaks of the latter rising from 2000 to 2500 feet above the level of the
sea. Two rivers take their rise in these hills, the Paranapanema which
flows in a westerly direction and forms the boundary between Parana and
São Paulo States, and the Tieté which in a north-westerly direction
flows right through the latter State. Both these large rivers are but
tributaries of the Parana, the great waterway of the interior of the
continent.
The State extends over an area of more than 112,000 square miles, and
its climate varies in the different zones, which have strongly marked
and differing characteristics.
The low-lying lands which border on the coast at the foot of the eastern
Serra are marshy swamps, a region of damp heat uncongenial to man but
excellent for the cultivation of rice. The humid, steamy air of the
littoral is in strong contrast to the agreeable conditions on the
plateau upon which the capital stands. The intermediate region of the
Serra do Mar is covered with dense vegetation, subject to heavy rains,
whilst mists continually envelop the hills, and the sun shines but
seldom through the thick vapours. Frost and hail are not uncommon on the
Serra, and even snow is not unknown.
[Illustration: THE ROAD TO SÃO PAULO FROM RIO.]
But it is the plateau between the Serra and the Parana that possesses
the most favourable climate, for although the temperature varies
slightly it is always agreeable and pleasant, being neither too hot nor
too cold. This plateau is perhaps the most fertile and productive in the
great continent, which abounds with favoured regions, and its great
prosperity gives some indication of its popularity with European
settlers.
The early history of the State of São Paulo has a romance running
through its pages which can never cease to be of interest, and the
beginnings of its prosperity are traceable to the friendly relationships
established in the beginning of the sixteenth century between a
shipwrecked Portuguese sailor, João Ramalho, and Tybiricá, the chief of
the Guayanás, a tribe who dominated the country.
Ramalho married the chief’s daughter, and this alliance cemented a
friendship with the chief and his tribe, over which the castaway soon
acquired so great an influence that when Martin Affonso arrived at the
head of an expedition he met with a friendly welcome. For his good
offices Ramalho was rewarded by the Portuguese Crown with a grant of the
lands which he and the tribe were occupying, the new-comers establishing
a settlement at St. Vincente, near Santos, and erecting a fort on the
island of St. Amaro at the entrance to the bay. From the union between
the Portuguese settlers and the Guayanás there sprang the race of
half-breeds known first as Mamelucos and later as Paulistas, a race that
accomplished much in the exploration and development of various parts of
Brazil.
The village of St. Andre, where Ramalho and his father-in-law Tybiricá
lived, rapidly grew until in 1533 it was raised to the position of a
town, and these two settlements of St. Vincente and St. Andre were the
forerunners of the cities of Santos and São Paulo which afterwards arose
upon adjacent sites.
The Jesuits, who arrived upon the scene in 1554, proved an important
factor in suppressing the invasions of savage tribes who threatened the
little colonies from time to time, and in organising the settlements by
the construction of a road connecting that at the coast with the mission
station which they established at São Paulo. This mission station grew
in power and importance until finally it usurped the position of St.
Andre, which was destroyed at the instigation of the priests.
The history of the two succeeding centuries is filled with the contests
between the lay Paulistas and the Jesuits, their methods being in
constant opposition, for whilst the former desired native labour to
cultivate their lands and work their industries, they found that the
missions absorbed most if not all of the available natives. These were
gathered under the protection of the missions upon the communistic plan
so successfully practised under the Jesuits in other parts of the
continent, the natives meeting with fair and considerate treatment,
although practically reduced to the position of slaves working for the
common good. The laymen sought to bring the natives into the condition
of slaves for their own personal interest, and to treat them as property
to be used for their own aggrandisement, and professed to see little or
no difference in their doing individualistically what the Church did
communistically.
The association of the whites and their half-Indian progeny with the
pure native Indians was also the cause of much dissension, and led to
numbers of the latter withdrawing from the settlements and forming new
ones antagonistic to the invaders. In all the quarrels Tybiricá stood
loyally by his son-in-law’s fellow-countrymen, and even fought against
his own brother when the latter led an attack upon São Paulo.
[Illustration: THE APPROACH TO SANTOS.]
As the Mamelucos grew in numbers their demands for native labour
increased, and its monopoly by the Jesuits came to be a grievance which
the laymen determined to redress. Raids upon the Indians of the interior
were consequently organised, and the adventurous Paulistas did not
hesitate to risk their lives in the pursuit of tribes as far as the
borders of Bolivia after the nearer districts had been cleared of
natives, and in these expeditions even the mission settlements of the
Guayaná were not spared. Immense numbers of natives were captured and
brought down to the markets of São Paulo for sale, many of them being
purchased to supply the demands of neighbouring States.
As this slave hunting went on unrestrained, the Jesuits removed their
missions further west to escape the attentions of their enemies; but in
1641 a large party of the Paulistas invaded the Paraguayan missions and
bore away many natives as captives. These Paulistas had become
adventurous, and hardy, past belief, and were the most energetic race in
the whole continent, opening up much of the country in the course of
their expeditions--discovering diamonds in Minas, gold in Maranhão, and
laying the foundations of towns and villages wherever they went.
When the emancipation of the Indian (not the negro) slaves was decreed
in 1758, the energies of this indefatigable people, checked in one
direction, were turned towards exploration for a period, and it was not
until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when their country was
opened up to the trade of the world, that they found fresh and congenial
outlets for their enterprise.
During the whole of the last century immigration has flowed steadily
into the country, and its abundant agricultural wealth has been
developed with a steady persistence. The virile peoples from the Old
World, who have flocked into the State, have been rapidly absorbed by
the Paulistas, and a conglomerate race, made up of many elements, now
populates the country. The energy of the Paulista resembles that of the
American of the United States, and the activity in the city of São Paulo
is remarked by all who have compared it with Rio and other towns in
different parts of Brazil.
* * * * *
The city of São Paulo is full of pleasant surprises. Its three principal
streets, the Rua São Bento, Rua Quinze de Novembro, and Rua Direita,
form a triangle in the busiest part of the city, and are narrow, crowded
thoroughfares, the electric cars taking up the principal part of the
roadways, which in business hours become so congested that progress is
very slow, both for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
Many of the shops are fine, and contain a goodly display of wares, but
prices are high. Their harvest season is somewhat restricted, owing to
the large number of feast days or holidays throughout the year, in
addition to the Sundays, upon which
[Illustration: GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS IN THE LARGO DE PALACIO.]
the bulk of the shops are closed. In the case of tobacconists Sunday
closing is rigorously enforced, and the multitude of smokers have to lay
in their supplies for the week-end. It is on a Sunday or a festa day
that the crowds in the street are most interesting, for then the folk
come out in their gala clothes on pleasure and amusement bent. There is
no uniformity whatever in the costumes worn by either sex. Bare-headed
women wearing fur boas, men wearing overcoats, others clad in white
drill suits and straw hats or black felt head-gear, parade the streets
in an ever changing stream. The car conductors, in grey uniforms with
gold facings, are kept busy attending to the human freights, whilst
policemen, in black with red facings, direct the traffic with small,
white batons, as in Paris. Lottery ticket vendors yell their wares in
competition with purveyors of sweets, cakes, and pastries, whose yellow
delicacies tempt the flies and children who swarm around, the former
brushed off with large feather brushes, the latter encouraged by glowing
entreaties. Everything looks new here, even traditions and customs from
the Old World seeming to undergo a change. In the crowds at the street
corners the men are mostly garbed in black, but the women affect all the
colours of the rainbow.
White dresses predominate, but blues, magentas, yellows, pinks, greens,
and faded vermilions are freely admixed, varied with yellow and red
kerchiefs and purple shawls. Here a group of four or five mules ridden
by bare-footed countrymen in blue trousers, there shaggy yellow ponies,
sun-faded and mud-stained, brush through and rub against the
holiday-making crowd. Yonder, on the steps leading up to the gardens,
sits an Italian, munching his midday meal of bread, cheese, and olives.
In these gardens, in front of the President’s palace, are many curious
and beautiful trees, amongst them two stately oaks with the freshest of
green leaves, soft and delicate, as in early summer.
The palms and ferns, cut and cropped into fantastic shapes, mingle with
the cactus, which needs no such attention. In the shady bowers are
welcome resting-places, where the wearied sit in the patches of sunlight
that splash warm upon them through the branches, reading the papers in
French, Italian, and Portuguese, smoking eternally, conversing
frequently, and moving but seldom. Flower-sellers move here and there,
offering tempting bunches of the loveliest pansies, violets, and roses,
and add colour to the scene. The singing of birds, the tinkling of the
car bells, the hum of voices, the strident cries of the hawkers, all
mingle on the sunny Sunday morn, and a happier-looking city and people
it would be difficult to imagine.
A favourite jaunt with the Sunday or holiday crowd--Italians, negroes,
Portuguese, Germans, Paulistas, and English--is a run on the car from
the Largo do Sé to the gardens and museum at Ypiranga. The journey
occupies about half an hour, and the route runs through the Square of
15th September, along the Rua do Gloria, with its small one-story
houses, past the abattoir, through boulevards planted on either side
with trees, to the suburbs, where building is going on in all
directions, the workmen busy at their jobs, although it is Sunday.
Outside the town are market gardens and fields with green grass and
rich, red soil, firs and pines on all sides, cattle browsing in the
meadowland, rose-covered villas and factories springing up amidst the
green fields.
Most of the occupants of the cars descend at the gardens of the
Ypiranga, in the grounds of which are wide walks, raised terraces, lined
with cypress trees, and well laid out beds of flowers and shrubs of all
varieties.
The museum is built upon the spot where the independence of Brazil was
proclaimed in 1822 by the Prince Dom Pedro, who, on learning of the
refusal of the Cortes at Lisbon to listen respectfully to the Brazilian
delegates, impetuously gave utterance to the famous cry, “Independence
or Death!” and was shortly afterwards proclaimed constitutional Emperor
of Brazil.
[Illustration: THE NATIONAL MUSEUM AT YPIRANGA.]
The museum, erected as a monument to commemorate this historic event, is
a well-designed and imposing building, containing fine staircases and
lofty galleries, in one of which is a huge picture illustrating the
“Independencia ou Morto” incident.
The galleries are filled with collections of various objects of natural
and historical interest such as butterflies and birds, wasps and bees,
with their curious nests, old leather-covered furniture, sedan chairs,
cupboards, fourposter beds, and chests of the colonial period.
Amongst the many curious and instructive objects gathered together are
pottery from all parts of the continent, including Colombian, Peruvian,
and Mexican; stuffed fish, weird in shape and marvellous in variety,
taken from the rivers; lizards, chameleons, turtles, alligators, and
snakes. Here, too, are specimens of the feathers and ornaments worn by
the savage Indian tribes of the State of São Paulo, head-dresses of
yellow feathers, necklaces of human teeth, collars of green parrot
feathers and beetles’ wings, and of beadwork mixed with feathers.
The instruments, warlike and peaceful, of the native tribes are also
well represented, such as clubs, bows and arrows, stone hammers,
baskets, crudely made straw hats, a curious fire-making appliance
consisting of spindle revolving in a disc; native panpipes, calabashes,
and mats.
Amongst the stuffed animals are such curiosities or freaks as a calf
with only two legs, and another with two heads.
The Paulistas, imbued with the spirit of freedom, have bestowed upon
many of their streets and squares the names of patriots and public
benefactors, as witness the Avenue Tiradentes, which perpetuates the
name and fame of one of the ardent spirits of the eighteenth century,
who ever strove to rouse the nation to throw off the yoke of Portugal.
Tiradentes, although not the leader of the conspiracy which failed,
nevertheless was a martyr to the cause and was beheaded, drawn, and
quartered, his head exposed to the public gaze in Ouro Preto, and his
house there burned to the ground. He was the first republican to shed
his blood in the cause of Brazilian independence, but not till a century
after his death was the aim accomplished.
Throughout the city such names as Avenida Rangel Pestana and Rua
Visconda do Rio Branco testify to the esteem in which the inhabitants
hold their public men.
In striking contrast to the narrower streets is the Viaducto Clia, a
broad avenue that leads to the new part of the city where everything is
on a magnificent scale, with squares and avenues of which any city might
well be proud. The valley which separates the old city from the new was
undergoing great alterations during my visit, vast business palaces
springing up on this beautiful
[Illustration: THE THEATRE OF S. PAULO.]
site. Overlooking this valley, which is being laid out tastefully as a
public garden, stands the Municipal Theatre, one of the finest buildings
in the country, built at a cost of nearly half a million sterling. It is
a fine monument to the wisdom, skill, and taste of its projectors,
engineers, and architects, and from its commanding position compares
more than favourably with its rival in Rio. The interior is elaborately
decorated. Marble staircases, handsome balustrades, gilded columns,
white and gold walls, and frescoed ceilings all enrich the imposing
vestibule. The foyer is a spacious apartment, seen at its best when a
dance is going forward. It was my good fortune to be present at a ball
given by its inhabitants in honour of its architect, Dr. Ramos de
Azevedo, and Señor Antonio Prado, who was Mayor of the city when the
theatre was commenced. Exquisite floral decorations were lavished upon
the staircase, corridors, and ballrooms, thousands of electric lamps
being dotted everywhere amidst the flowers.
The brilliance of the ladies’ costumes set off with sparkling diamonds
gave an added animation to a scene which equalled if it did not surpass
the grand functions in Rio, where one is used to costly and elaborate
displays.
The Largo do Palacio is a pleasing square which overlooks a great
stretch of the surrounding country, and is formed by the President’s
Palace and the administration buildings of Justice, Agriculture, and
Finance, an imposing and quiet retreat on the margin of the busiest part
of the city. But São Paulo is rich in fine buildings, schools, technical
colleges, and institutes testifying to the educational facilities
afforded to all classes of the community. Hospitals and asylums evince
care for the sick and mentally afflicted. Government enterprise in the
erection of these buildings has been ably seconded by private
munificence, and the Escola de Commerco Alvares Penteado is a good
example of the public spirit displayed by the citizens. This fine
building, presented to the town by the Condé de Penteado, occupies the
whole side of one of its squares, and its good and pleasant proportions
are in the style associated with the latest architectural movements on
the continent of Europe. The Condé has done much to embellish the city,
and his private residence, the Villa Penteado, in the suburb of
Hygienopolis, is one of the most notable of the hundreds of luxurious
mansions that adorn the surrounding avenues.
This villa is in reality a palace quite in harmony with the progress of
the city. The design reflects modernity of taste down to its minutest
details, and the happy use that has been made of native woods in the
internal decorations and fittings is truly ingenious. Its owner, a
notable figure in São Paulo, has had much to do with the cultivation of
coffee, for, inheriting estates of growing importance, he was not
content to remain a “fazendero,” but entered into the field of industry
with all the keenness characteristic of the Paulistas, and inaugurated
one of the largest jute mills in Brazil. His son, the Condé Sylvia,
follows close in his father’s footsteps, being a thorough believer in
the Gospel of Work, and presents the rare spectacle of a young man of
fortune energetically forcing his way to the front as a captain of
industry.
[Illustration: THE PENTEADO TECHNICAL COLLEGE.]
The Paulistas have built and developed so many fine buildings and
institutions that there can be no doubt of their ability to give fitting
expression to their high ideals, whilst numerous beautiful residences
give ample evidence of their good taste, and would attract attention in
almost any city in the world.
The Minister of Justice, Dr. Washington Luiz, has control of a
department of the State which is of the greatest importance to the
community. All vehicles, cars, carts, carriages, and wagons are licensed
under this department, and an efficient method of inspection is in
operation. Similarly porters, newsvendors, sellers of lottery tickets,
chauffeurs, and hawkers are all obliged to take out licences
[Illustration: THE VILLA PENTEADO.]
that are registered in the card catalogues of the department. The system
of identification cards, with photographs and fingerprints of the
owners, has been brought to a high state of perfection. All known
criminals are filed for reference in a separate register from that which
is kept for ordinary civilians who for purposes of travel desire to
possess a proper certificate of identification. Another card catalogue
kept up to date contains full particulars of all houses of business
occupied only during the daytime, and the private addresses where the
owners can be communicated with at once in the event of fire, burglary,
or other unusual occurrence. To aid the police a most wonderful
telephonic system has been installed throughout the city and suburbs, so
that every constable on beat can always put himself in communication
with headquarters should need arise. The street call stations are
attached to posts provided with alarum bells for use by day and electric
lamps that can be switched on at night, in order to call the attention
of the patrol and bring him to the receiver, which is enclosed in a
small box. Keys are provided throughout the force which fit these boxes,
so that whilst the instrument cannot be tampered with every police
officer has access to it, and outlying patrols can summon aid from
headquarters, or in turn be hailed whenever necessary. A tape machine at
headquarters automatically registers all calls that take place, noting
the minute, hour, and date by a series of punctures, thus keeping the
record and identification of calls from the various stations.
Motor ambulances, prison vans, and fire-engines can be brought at the
shortest possible notice to any part of the town and district within a
mile radius, and the equipment of all the “public assistance” motor
vehicles is most efficient and up to date. The very latest models of
motor-drawn fire-engines, escapes, and wagonettes are held in readiness
at the fire-stations, all of which are in telephonic communication with
hundreds of call offices throughout the city; indeed, a finer system has
not been installed in any town of importance. Great attention is paid to
fire drill, a dummy wooden house of four stories being used at the
central station for the men to practise upon.
The army of the State, officered and drilled by a French mission, is,
although small, one of the most efficient in the Union. The military
bearing of the men when on parade and their workmanlike evolutions in
camp and field compare more than favourably with those of the Federal
troops themselves. In the early morning companies in their canvas
working garb may be seen busy at drill in the fields around the city,
and the officers are justly proud of their men’s accomplishments. The
barracks or caserne is a large and commodious range of buildings, with
stabling attached for the mules and horses, a veterinary hospital,
fitting and repairing shops, riding school, fencing rooms, and
gymnasium, all kept up to a high standard, and but for the language
spoken by the men the visitor might easily imagine himself in the
“caserne” of a French town.
The duty of preserving order devolves upon a police force which is
drilled upon the military system, which apparently well fits them for
the carrying out of their civil duties, and few cities in South America
can boast of public servants who are better trained or who exhibit as
much _esprit de corps_ as the soldiers, police, and firemen of São
Paulo.
Another State department deserving of the highest praise is that of
agriculture, presided over by Dr. Padua Salles, a man of exceptional
ability and delightful personality, who has done much to enlarge the
influence and usefulness of the department under his charge.
[Illustration: OFFICERS OF THE SÃO PAULO ARMY.]
Under his direction the principal interest of the country, its
agricultural development, is well fostered and cared for. Much has been
accomplished in the exploration and development of the vast hinterland,
which it will take time and patience to cover fully. Maps and statistics
of the rivers Tieté, Ribeira de Iguape, Juqueryquerê, Feio, and
Aguapehy, have been drawn, compiled, and published by the
Commissao-Geographica E Geologica, and a splendid reference library and
publication department are at the free disposal of all desiring the
fullest information regarding the State and the opportunities it offers
to the investor. Its climate is inviting to Europeans, and is especially
popular with Italians, who flock thither in large numbers, and have
every provision made for their reception and encouragement. Hotels are
provided for the accommodation of immigrants until they have chosen
their location and settled therein. Schools and colleges for technical
and agricultural instruction abound. The Agricultural College at
Piracicaba, about 150 miles north-west of São Paulo, is one of the best
equipped of its kind; whilst the Fazenda Modelo, or model farm, covers
an area of 800 acres, upon which almost every useful and profitable crop
is grown with splendid results.
[Illustration: A WATERFALL NEAR SÃO PAULO.]
Besides the staple product, coffee, São Paulo produces plentiful crops
of corn, rice, beans, sugar-cane, cotton, and tobacco, whilst manioc, or
cassava, Irish and sweet potatoes, arrowroot, oats, and field peas are
largely cultivated. Coffee however, is almost the only agricultural
product exported from the State, for the others barely supply the home
demand. Of the industries dependent upon the produce of the country
mention must be made of the distillation of “aguardiente,” or cane
whisky, and the manufacture of sugar, a number of factories existing for
the production of these commodities, as well as for cotton-weaving, the
supplying of rectified spirits from corn, and the utilising of textile
fibres in the making of bags, carpeting, and twine. Grape-growing has
been started and experiments made to ascertain the variety of grape
likely to yield the best result, and a vine has been produced specially
adapted for the prevailing climatic conditions and which resists all
vine diseases.
[Illustration: THE WHARVES OF SANTOS.]
São Paulo is especially fortunate in possessing in the waterfalls on its
rivers an abundant supply of power for the generating of electricity
wherewith to drive machinery, propel tramcars, and illuminate houses,
shops, factories, and streets, and this should prove a most potent
factor in the growing development of the State.
When it is remembered that the most productive part of the State is
situated more than a hundred miles from the sea and, moreover, upon a
plateau or tableland which is from 1800 to 3000 feet above sea-level,
some conception can be formed
[Illustration: THE DOCKS OF SANTOS.]
of the difficulties which had to be overcome in connection with the
transport of produce for export from the port of Santos. These
difficulties have, however, been successfully overcome by the São Paulo
Railway, one of the most extraordinary in the world. It connects the
port of Santos with the town of Jundiahi, one hundred miles inland, and
the capital city São Paulo lies about midway between the termini. In
making the ascent of the Serro do Mar such steep gradients are
accomplished that a climb of 2600 feet is achieved within a distance of
five miles. This is effected by means of wire ropes wound upon
stationary engines, which pull the trains up and down over a distance of
six miles through extremely beautiful scenery. Over this short line
passes all the immense export of coffee and other produce which leaves
the State through its port of Santos. This port was, not longer than
twenty-five years ago, one of the worst in the world with regard to that
terrible scourge yellow fever, and shipowners dreaded to send their
vessels thither to have their crews oftentimes entirely carried off and
the ships delayed for months at a time, unable to obtain hands to man
them. But all that has passed away, thanks largely to the improvements
carried out by Gaffrée Guinle and Co., now the Santos Docks Company.
Although low-lying and steamy, Santos is to-day quite a healthy city of
some 30,000 inhabitants, and the largest coffee emporium in the world.
Situated in a fine harbour, its wharf front extends for nearly three
miles, and is provided with hydraulic and other machinery for
manipulating the freights of the ocean liners that lie alongside. The
city to-day has spread itself across wide, flat land at the foot of the
hills, and is well provided in the matter of water supply and
sanitation, whilst its broad, straight streets are well paved and
electrically lit. It is well furnished, too, in respect of schools and
institutions, churches, consulates, libraries, and clubs, and is,
moreover, in complete telegraphic communication with the interior of the
State and the rest of the world. After a stay in the State of São Paulo,
sufficiently prolonged to permit of an acquaintance with the industry
and enterprise of its citizens, the delightfulness of its climate, the
abundant fertility of its soil, and the beauty of its scenery, one sails
from the port of Santos with a feeling of regret at leaving so fair a
clime, and with a conviction that its prosperity will yet enhance and
carry it to a high position amongst the states of the world.