BAHIA AND ITS INDUSTRIES.--RIO JANEIRO.--THE BAY AND THE CITY.--SIGHTS
OF THE CAPITAL.--EMPEROR DOM PEDRO II.
[Illustration: VIEW OF BAHIA.]
Bahia was the next city visited by the youthful travellers. For two days
the steamer kept near the coast of Brazil, which presented a more
picturesque appearance than near the mouth of the Amazon. There was a
background of hills filling the western horizon, and occasional
headlands jutting into the sea; in several places the hills rose to the
dignity of mountains, and formed an agreeable contrast to the stretches
of sandy beach, backed by low forests, which extend much of the way from
Para to Pernambuco.
Bahia takes its name from the Bay of All Saints (Bahia de Todos os
Santos), on which it stands. It is a magnificent sheet of water,
thirty-seven miles long from north to south, and twenty-seven from east
to west, and its depth varies from eight to forty fathoms. It has two
entrances from the south, and is an admirable shelter for ships of all
possible tonnage.
The bay also gives its name to a province with an area of two hundred
thousand square miles; the province of Bahia contains some of the
richest land of Brazil, especially along the coast, where there are many
plantations, and a liberal sprinkling of towns and villages. Sugar,
tobacco, rice, cotton, and coffee are the principal products; the coffee
is inferior to that of Rio, but the tobacco is good enough to be made
into "Havana" cigars and sold as such in England and the United States.
[Illustration: DIAMOND-WASHING IN BRAZIL.]
Diamonds were discovered in the province of Bahia in 1844, and since
that time their fame has spread through the world. The celebrated
diamond "Star of the South" came from the mines of Brazil, and in the
few years following the discovery the yield was so great as to seriously
disturb the diamond market of Europe, and cause a heavy decline in the
prices of the gems. At present the product has greatly diminished.
[Illustration: "STAR OF THE SOUTH."]
The steamer entered the bay and anchored in front of the city, which is
beautifully situated, partly on a series of hills, and partly at their
base. The old, and business, portion is near the water; its streets are
narrow, and the buildings are four or five stories high, very solidly
built of stone. The great business street is the Praya, which runs for
about four miles along the water front, and contains, among other public
edifices, a church built of stone imported from Europe in the ships that
came out in ballast to carry away the produce of Brazil.
Altogether there are about sixty churches in Bahia, and some of them are
among the finest on the South American continent. Bahia was the first
settlement of Europeans in Brazil, and a flourishing city before Rio
Janeiro was known to the world. The bay was discovered by Americus
Vespucius in 1503, and the city was founded seven years later. From 1549
until 1763 it was the capital of the Portuguese possessions in South
America; in the last-named year the honor was transferred to Rio
Janeiro, and the city has suffered a great deal during the various
political commotions to which Brazil has been subject.
[Illustration; PORTERS ASLEEP.]
The population of more than one hundred and fifty thousand is as
variously composed as that of Para or Pernambuco. The whites, blacks,
and mixed races are about equally divided; among the former there are
many English and German merchants, the Germans predominating. The
foreign commerce is chiefly with England and Germany, but there is a
considerable trade with the United States, in which the Brazilian
exports vastly exceed the importations.
"We were saved the exertion of walking to the upper town," said Fred, in
his note-book, "as there is a steam elevator which performs the work
much more cheaply than human muscle could do it. From the top of the
hill, about four hundred feet above the bay, we had a magnificent view
that we will never forget.
"In front was the ocean, with the deep blue of the tropics, and its
horizon line, which seemed rising to meet the sky. The bay was dotted
with sails and row-boats; out on the ocean there was here and there a
stipple of white which told of a sail, or a stream of smoke denoting the
course of a steamer; on either side of our position were streets and
squares of handsome houses, standing in rows and groups of palm or other
trees of the equatorial regions; and in the background of the picture
was a setting of everlasting hills, interspersed with bits and patches
of prairie or undulating ground. We have nowhere seen a prettier spot
than this, and endorse the assertion of previous visitors that Bahia is
one of the most picturesque cities of the South American continent.
"When we landed we were pestered by pedlers who wanted to sell the
famous feather-flowers of Brazil, and this reminded us that Bahia is the
centre of the industry. After we had enjoyed the view from the upper
part of the city we engaged a carriage and drove to the convent where
the finest of these flowers are made. Formerly the convent had a
monopoly of the business, and derived a handsome revenue from the work
of the nuns; but of late years there have been many rivals, and the
convent trade has not been as prosperous as of yore.
"You never saw anything more perfect than these imitations of natural
flowers. Put a cluster of them side by side with a bouquet of genuine
flowers and you will have to guess 'which is which.' It would be nothing
more than a guess so far as the eye is concerned, as the imitation is
perfect in color, shape, size--in everything but smell. Here are lilies,
budding, half-opened, or in full bloom; hyacinths with their delicate
purple; orange-flowers that seem just crystallized from the snow;
violets shrinking in their modest hue of blue; roses, in all the colors
for which the rose is famed, and in all conditions of growth and bloom;
together with buds and blooms and blossoms of many and many a flower
unfamiliar to our eyes.
[Illustration: BRAZILIAN HUMMING-BIRDS.]
"They showed us admirable collections of humming-birds flying among
leaves and flowers. The birds were the natural bodies, carefully
preserved, and so poised in their positions as to present the appearance
of life; the flowers and leaves were formed of the feathers of other
birds, and simulated to perfection the growth of the forest. One
collection embraced nearly five hundred humming-birds of all colors and
combinations of colors, but we were told that it did not include all the
varieties of humming-bird in South America.
"We bought several dollars' worth of these flowers, and it was well that
our time was limited, or we might have been tempted to spend more money
than we could afford. The feather-flowers are made by the nuns in the
convent; they have the natural flowers before them, or carefully drawn
and tinted representations upon paper, to serve as models. Practice
makes perfect in this as in everything else, but I imagine that those
who achieve success in the work must have a natural aptitude for the
selection of colors. We were assured that all the colors of the feathers
were natural, though we have our suspicions that the establishment makes
use of dyes. Whether our suspicions are correct or not it is certain
that the birds of South America are blessed with brilliant plumage.
[Illustration: MARKET SCENE, BAHIA.]
"There is a fine market-house at Bahia, which we visited, and another
which may be called 'the open market,' on the shore of the bay. Most of
the frequenters of the latter market were negroes and other people of
very dark complexions; there were a few planters on horseback, and from
the way they remained close to their steeds when not sitting upon them
we inferred that it would compromise their dignity to appear as
pedestrians. Many of the negroes carried burdens on their heads; those
who rolled casks or moved heavy bales acted as though they would prefer
to transport them in the other fashion, but a barrel is too unwieldy to
be carried on the summit of the skull.
[Illustration: PORTERS AND CASK.]
"Most of the heavy work of Bahia is performed by negroes, as at Para or
Pernambuco, and the effort to domesticate Chinese coolies has not been
successful. The planters complain that since the decree of emancipation
they cannot get as much work out of the negroes as formerly. This is
more than probable, as the slaves were treated with great cruelty; a
Brazilian slave-owner was a type of all that was barbarous, though there
were doubtless many owners who treated their human property with
kindness. To judge by the faces of some of the planters we have seen, I
would not like to be in their power, and incur their displeasure. There
is little compassion visible in the hard lines of their features.
[Illustration: SEDAN CHAIR.]
[Illustration: FRAME OF SEDAN.]
"Modern modes of travel have not abolished the sedan chair, which
flourishes in Bahia, Rio Janeiro, and other cities of Brazil. It is less
comfortable than the sedan chair of Hong Kong and Canton, but preferable
to the palanquin or the _dhoolie_ of India. Like the Chinese chair or
the Indian palkee, it is slung on a pole, and carried by porters; the
latter are generally a couple of stalwart negroes, who make the best
porters in the world, especially where the climate is as warm as that of
Bahia. Every respectable citizen must have his sedan; the vehicle is
richly decorated, according to the taste and wealth of the owner, and
when it is no longer serviceable it is sold for public use. Not
infrequently a public sedan bears the crest of a private citizen; the
decayed and faded curtains, and the general air of dilapidation
pervading the concern, tell very plainly what has been its former state.
Some of the porters are arrayed in solemn black, including dress coats
and stiff hats, and their appearance has a suggestion of the grotesque.
But it is the fashion of the country, and we do not propose to interfere
with it.
"Evening found us back on the steamer, and at sunset we passed through
the southern entrance of the bay and were once more on the ocean. Our
prow was turned to Rio, eight hundred miles away, and we steamed gayly
along on our course. Sometimes we kept far out to sea, to avoid
dangerous reefs, on which many a ship has gone to pieces, and at others
we swept close in shore, and had fine views of the land. The hills grow
in size as we increase our distance from the equator, and after a time
the mountains of the coast range fill the western horizon. With our
glasses we can distinguish many houses and villages, and are not
surprised to learn that the region is a fertile one.
"The coasting steamers make half a dozen stoppages on the way from Bahia
to Rio, but we do not halt. None of the way ports are of great
consequence, but if the country behind them could be developed to its
proper capacity there would be a heavy business at places now unknown to
the commercial world. Some of the mountain slopes may be difficult of
cultivation on account of their dryness, but there is a vast area of
country that only waits the work of the colonist to enable it to produce
abundantly."
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOR OF RIO.]
Four days from Bahia brought the steamer in sight of "The Sugar-Loaf,"
the sharply conical peak nearly two thousand feet high which is the
landmark of the magnificent bay of Rio Janeiro, pronounced by many
visitors the finest in the world. Some there are who claim pre-eminence
for the Bay of Naples; others, but they are few in number, who have
entered Avatcha Bay, in Kamtchatka, say it surpasses the Bay of Rio; and
others again give preference to the Bay of Yokohama, in Japan. Among our
three friends there were no less than three opinions: Naples, Avatcha,
and Yokohama had each an advocate, but all agreed in giving the second
honor to Rio. With this honor it must remain content.
[Illustration: VIEW OF RIO JANEIRO FROM THE SEA.]
Its general shape is that of a triangle, and it is nearly a hundred
miles in circumference. There is but a single entrance, and that a
narrow one, so that a ship once inside is in water as smooth as that of
a lake. It is set in mountains whose sides are thickly covered with
foliage, and its surface is studded with islands, nearly a hundred in
all. The name of the bay, "Rio de Janeiro," was given under the
supposition that it was not a bay, but the mouth of a large river. There
is no stream of consequence entering the ocean at this point, and the
"River of January" exists only in the imagination.
Not wholly in the imagination, however, as it belongs to the city which
is the capital of Brazil, and has a population of three hundred
thousand; to the municipality containing the city, and having an area of
five hundred and forty square miles; and to the province containing city
and municipality, with an area of eighteen thousand square miles, and a
population of a million and a quarter, of many races, colors, and kinds.
In the bay, city, municipality, and province we have Rio de Janeiro four
times over. Perhaps in some future day the empire will cease to be known
as Brazil, and adopt the name of its capital.
The larger islands in the bay are occupied, and cultivated wherever
possible; many of them are fortified, and several are surmounted by
churches or chapels. The entrance to the bay is only two thousand feet
wide, and defended by forts, one at the base of the Sugar Loaf and the
other nearly opposite. Together they would make it very tropical for a
hostile fleet, and just inside the entrance is another fort, which is
intended to take care of anything that escapes the outer defences.
As the steamer came to her anchorage she was surrounded by a swarm of
boats, which kept at a respectful distance until the arrival of the
health officer, without whose authority there could be no communication
between ship and shore. If the doctor and the youths had been unaware of
their latitude the merchandise of the boats would have told them,
without the aid of the hot sun in the sky overhead. There were monkeys
and parrots in great abundance; an assortment of snakes and other
creeping things; bananas, pineapples, and other tropical fruits; yams,
sweet potatoes, mandioca root, and other "garden truck" of the country;
tobacco and cigars in all conditions of badness; and other merchandise
only to be designated by native names. The boatmen kept up an incessant
talk, mingled with many gesticulations, and the half-hour spent in
waiting for the health officer was by no means lost.
By and by that official came, the ship was pronounced "clean," and the
passengers were free to land. From the anchorage the city does not
present an imposing appearance, as it is only partially visible;
portions of it are screened by the hills, which break its front and
divide it into several quarters. In consequence of these hills it
straggles over a considerable area, and is really made up of a series of
suburbs; from the centre of the city to Botofago is a good three miles,
and it is the same distance the other way to another suburb or district
of equal importance. Like our Washington, it is a city of magnificent
distances; in order to see it all at once you must climb the hills in
the rear, and look at the metropolis nestling at your feet. Only till
you do this can you realize its greatness.
[Illustration: FRONT VIEW OF THE CITY.]
Rio was evidently built with a view to permanence. At least Frank and
Fred thought so, as they landed at the piers of solid granite, with
steps leading down to the water and facilitating debarkation at every
stage of the tide. Near the landing-place was a market, where they found
groups of negroes waiting for work, or possibly waiting to avoid having
work to do. There were heaps of fruit and vegetables, similar to what
they had seen in Para and Pernambuco, and the same chatter and commotion
prevailed among the venders and their patrons.
We depended upon Fred for an account of the visit to Bahia, and will ask
Frank to tell us about Rio de Janeiro.
"From the landing-place we went first to the hotel," said Frank, "under
the guidance of a runner, who had met us at the steamer. We went without
our baggage, which was taken directly from the ship to the custom-house.
Nobody is in a hurry in this country; we knew there would be a delay in
bringing the trunks and bags from the steamer, and that we could utilize
it by securing our quarters. We made all arrangements for our stay, and
then went to the custom-house, which we reached just as Manuel arrived
with our impedimenta.
"The officials were polite but slow. We managed to get the attention of
one of them, who promised to 'expediate' our business; as he took at
least an hour for accomplishing what might have been done in five or ten
minutes, I shudder to think what would have been our fate without any
'expedition.' Porters were ready to seize upon the parcels as they were
released from the custom-house, and it was a comical spectacle that
Manuel presented as he marched at the front of a column of
scantily-dressed negroes, each of whom bore some part of our personal
effects on his head.
[Illustration: COFFEE-CARRIERS.]
"Down to a few years ago nearly all the transportation of Rio was
conducted in this way. Coffee, sugar, and other merchandise was placed
on the heads of negroes, who trotted nimbly along, carrying sacks
weighing one hundred and sixty pounds as though they were only a tenth
of that amount. Articles that were too much for one man were slung on
poles, or balanced on the heads of two, four, or possibly eight or ten
porters; it was no uncommon sight to see a piano or a large box poised
on the heads of four or six men, and the stranger could not help
thinking what might be the result if one of the number should make a
misstep and fall to the ground.
[Illustration: COAL-CARRIERS.]
"The negroes had almost a monopoly of the carrying trade, and when
carts were introduced there was very nearly a riot in consequence.
Danger was averted by placing a limit to the number of carts, and a
continuance of the old system without a reduction of prices. The
business of transportation still requires a great deal of head-work on
the part of the negroes, and there is no likelihood that they will be
altogether superseded. We met several groups of coffee-carriers, each
with a sack on his head, and near the landing-place was a line of
coal-carriers with their appropriate burdens.
[Illustration: MODERN INNOVATIONS.]
"Many of the trucks and carts are drawn by hand, and consequently the
mule and the negro may be regarded as rivals in this department of
labor. But there seems to be perfect friendship between them, if I may
judge by a scene I witnessed of a mule and a negro lying down together,
and the negro using the mule as a pillow.
"The leader of a gang of coffee-carriers has a rattle in his hand, and
keeps time with it for his followers. They step to the music, and aid it
by a low, monotonous chant, in words quite unintelligible to our ears.
Sometimes the rattle gives place to a small flag, which is waved in
unison with the step; the men who propel carts or trucks have no use for
flags or rattles, though sometimes they stick a flag in front of the
vehicle as an indication of ownership.
[Illustration: PEDLERS OF DRY-GOODS.]
"All things considered, I have never seen a city where so many things
were carried on the head as in Rio Janeiro. Pedlers of dry-goods go from
house to house, followed by negroes bearing boxes or bales of the finery
which they offer for sale; the practice saves the ladies the trouble of
going to the shops when they want to buy anything, and enables the
dealers to work off a great many things that would not be easy to
dispose of otherwise. Before we had fairly landed at the hotel we were
besieged by pedlers, and forcibly reminded of our experience at
Singapore, Calcutta, and other cities of Asia.
[Illustration: POULTRY DEALER.]
"Fruit and poultry are borne on the heads of the market men and women,
the former in open baskets and the latter in covered ones. We met a
poultry dealer with a huge basket on his head, and at least a dozen
chickens were craning their necks out of the spaces between the slats.
He was farther weighted with a goose and a couple of turkeys swinging at
his side, and I have no doubt he would have added another dozen of
chickens without hesitation.
[Illustration: FRUIT VENDER.]
"Water-carriers balance casks and buckets on their heads; cooks,
chambermaids, and servants of all kinds and descriptions follow the
universal custom; and it would be interesting to know what Mr. Darwin
thinks of the development of species under such circumstances. The skull
of the Brazilian porter a thousand years hence ought to be not less than
an inch in thickness, and have a resisting power equal to that of a
mortar shell.
"Sedan chairs abound, but they are less numerous than formerly, as a
good many people now indulge in carriages who once relied upon chairs
for their locomotion. They are of the same model as the chairs of Bahia,
and the bearers have a kindred complexion and dress. For public
conveyances there are carriages, omnibuses, and street cars; the street
railways of Rio Janeiro are patronized by everybody, and it is said that
the original company has made a dividend of three hundred per cent.
every year on the amount of capital invested! The concession was
obtained by some New-Yorkers, and the Brazilians have been much
chagrined at the ease with which they allowed the foreigners to take
possession of such an excellent bonanza as this.
"The omnibus is here called a gondola, and we have been told how the
name originated. It may not be true, but you know the old Italian
proverb, '_Si non é vero é ben trovato._'
"An omnibus company had a monopoly of the business indicated by its
name; the government and people were much dissatisfied with the way its
business was conducted, as the vehicles were small, dirty, and
insufficient in number, and the fares were very high. The government
could not break its word by giving privileges to another company, and
the monopolists felt secure.
"But an enterprising genius suggested that a company could be licensed
to run gondolas in the streets of Rio, and the hint was taken at once.
The gondola company placed its vehicles in operation, and, though the
old company protested, the protests were of no avail. Who shall say
hereafter that there's nothing in a name?
"While I've been writing the foregoing, Fred has been looking up the
history of the city, and is prepared to tell you about it. I will rest a
while and let him have the floor."
[Illustration: VIEW IN THE BAY OF RIO DE JANEIRO.]
"Rio is a younger city than Bahia," wrote Fred, "as it was not
permanently settled until 1555. There were two temporary settlements
previous to this--in 1531 and 1552--but they lasted only a short time,
the first being abandoned in less than four months after its formation.
"The first settlers were French Huguenots, who prospered so well that
the king of Portugal ordered them driven out in ten years from the
founding of the colony. The governor of Bahia executed the order, and
established a Portuguese colony in place of the French one.
"The Huguenots got along very well with the natives, but the Portuguese
were constantly at war with them; the history of the first hundred years
of the colony is full of bloodshed, not only in conflicts with the
Indians, but in quarrels among the settlers. Assassinations were
frequent, and on several occasions it seemed as though the local
dissensions would bring the colonization of the country to an end.
"In 1763 Rio was made the viceregal capital, much to the annoyance of
the inhabitants of Bahia, which had hitherto held the honor. The
transfer of the capital was a piece of good fortune for Rio, which it
has maintained without interruption. Its glory was increased in 1808,
when the Prince-Regent of Portugal arrived with the intention of making
his home in Brazil until the declaration of a general peace in Europe.
"The residence of the royal family at Rio was the occasion of public
rejoicing, and the people readily surrendered their houses for the
accommodation of the sovereign and the retainers of his court. After the
declaration of peace, and the return of the king to Europe, their
loyalty cooled very materially, and in 1821 came the revolution, which
made Brazil independent of Portugal.
[Illustration: AN IMPERIAL PALACE.]
"In 1822, the son of the King of Portugal was declared Emperor of
Brazil, with the title of Dom Pedro I. The present occupant of the
throne, Dom Pedro II., is the son of the first Emperor of Brazil, and
ranks among the enlightened rulers of the nineteenth century. The
country is indebted to him for much of its material progress; it is no
fault of the emperor that Brazil is not yet in a foremost position among
the nations of the globe.
[Illustration: STATUE OF PEDRO I.]
"We had a glimpse of the emperor to-day, as he drove rapidly along the
principal street of the city, about four o'clock in the afternoon. He
was born in 1825, and is therefore well along in years, as you can see
by his full beard, which is of almost snowy whiteness. He has a keen,
sharp, commanding eye, and an expression that proclaims him 'every inch
a king.' We had a glance only, and then he was out of our sight, but we
cannot soon forget the impression it left behind. He was in civilian
dress, and if we had looked for his crown and sceptre we should have
looked in vain. He is said to maintain comparatively little of the pomp
and vanity of an imperial court, and would like to banish them
altogether, if it were possible and judicious to do so.
"He is probably the most industrious imperial ruler in the world, as he
devotes from twelve to fifteen hours daily to official work in one form
or another. He examines state papers, sits with the officers of his
cabinet, listens to reports and suggestions, visits schools, hospitals,
and other public institutions, is present at ceremonials, entertains
strangers, and can talk well on almost any topic of the day. He has a
taste for music, science, and geography, and can discuss the last new
opera, the researches of Darwin, or the explorations of Stanley, with
intelligence and discrimination.
"You may remember his visit to the United States at the time of our
Centennial; how rapidly he moved from place to place, and with what
interest he went on sight-seeing expeditions. The officers of his staff
who accompanied him were exhausted by their exertions, while the emperor
was always fresh, and ready for something new. He avoided public
demonstrations wherever he could do so without giving offence, and
devoted his limited stay of four months to an inspection of the country,
and a study of its institutions. From America he went to Europe for a
longer tour. His return to Rio was the occasion of great rejoicing, and
the demonstrations were as sincere as they were elaborate."
[Illustration: SCENE IN A BRAZILIAN SUBURB.]