Outdoor Scenes in Rio Janeiro.--The Little Marmoset.--The
Fish Market.--Secluded Women.--The Romish Church.--Botanical
Garden.--Various Species of Trees.--Grand Avenue of Royal
Palms.--About Humming-Birds.--Climate of Rio.--Surrounded by
Yellow Fever.--The Country Inland.--Begging on the
Streets.--Flowers.--"Portuguese Joe."--Social Distinctions.
It would require many pages to properly describe Rio Janeiro with its
curious phases of street life, its manners and customs, its local
peculiarities, and moving panorama of events, all combining to make up a
unique personality. These out-of-door scenes go far to tell the true
story of any special locality. The fruit and vegetable market, near
Palace Square, is a highly attractive place to visit at early morning.
The negro women venders, always stout and portly creatures, with heads
turbaned in many-colored bandannas, are eloquent in recommending their
articles for sale, and are also very shrewd at a bargain. It is not
uncommon for these middle-aged negresses to stand six feet high, without
shoes or stockings, and to turn the scales at double the average weight
of men of the same color and class. These women were all slaves in their
girlhood. As regards prices charged for provisions, fruits, and
vegetables, in the markets of Rio, they seemed to the author rather
exorbitant, but doubtless permanent residents do not pay such sums as
are charged to strangers for the same articles. We were heartily laughed
at by a housekeeper on stating the cost of a small basket of choice
fruit which we had purchased, being told that we had paid four times its
market value. However, it was well worth the price to us, who had just
arrived from an ocean voyage of five thousand miles and more. On
shipboard fruit is necessarily a scarce article, and it was certainly
worth something extra to be introduced for the first time to the
luscious products of this region.
The abundance and variety of flowers, as well as their cheapness and
fragrance, make them a desirable morning purchase, with all their dewy
freshness upon them. Oranges, limes, pineapples, lemons,
alligator-pears, cocoanuts, grapes, mangoes, with an infinite variety of
other fruits, make up the stock in trade, together with squealing pigs,
live turkeys, and noisy guinea-fowls. Here also are various gaudy
feathered songsters, in cheap, home-made cages, besides monkeys,
marmosets, and other household pets. The macaws, chained by the leg, and
the screaming parrots vie with each other and with the monkeys in the
amount of noise they make. Wicker baskets filled with live ducks, geese,
and fowls are borne on the heads of native women, who have brought them
many a long weary mile from far inland, hoping to make a few pennies by
their sale. The chatter of the women, the cries of men and animals, an
occasional quarrel between two noisy Italians, ending in furious
vociferations and gesticulations, all add to the Babel of sound. One
little marmoset put his hand into that of the author, looking so
appealingly into his face that, imagining the little fellow might be
hungry, some nice edibles, calculated to rejoice the monkey heart, were
promptly purchased and gratefully received by the marmoset, which, in
his eager haste to consume the same, stuffed the sides of either jaw to
alarming proportions. The little creature was wonderfully human, and
having found a kindly disposed stranger, insisted upon keeping one of
his tiny hands in our own, while he rapidly filled his mouth with the
other.
It is interesting to observe the artistic manner in which the native
women, Indians and blacks, mingle and arrange the various fruits and
vegetables, showing a natural instinct for the harmonious blending of
colors and forms. A pile of yellow oranges, green limes, and mangoes had
a base of buff-colored bananas picturesquely arranged with all the
pointed ends of the finger-like fruit outward, while a luscious ripe
pineapple formed the apex of the pile, set off jauntily by its
cactus-like, prickly leaves. On the borders of the market and along the
iron railing of Palace Square, black-haired, bareheaded Italian women
displayed cheap jewelry, imitation shell, gilded combs, and other fancy
trinkets for sale, embracing priestly knick-knacks, ivory crosses,
crucifixion scenes, coral beads, high-colored ribbons, and gaudy
kerchiefs. The bronzed faces of these black-eyed, gypsy-like women were
very cadaverous, as though the land of their adoption did not
particularly agree with them. It seems hardly possible that these
peddlers could gain a livelihood trading in these tawdry and utterly
useless articles among such a humble, impecunious class of customers as
frequent the market, and yet their numerous wide-open, shallow tin boxes
showed a considerable stock of goods.
The fish market is a curious sight in the variety of colors and shapes
afforded by the inhabitants of the neighboring bay, where most of them
are caught. What an array of finny monsters!--rock-fish, large as
halibut, ray, skates, craw-fish, cuttle-fish, and prawns half as large
as lobsters, together with devil-fish and oysters. Funny idea, but these
oysters, many of them, are grown on trees! How is this possible? Let us
tell you. The mangrove trees line the water's edge; many of the branches
overhang the sea, and are submerged therein. To these young oysters
affix themselves, and there they live and thrive. The same phenomenon
was observed by the author some years ago in Cuba. These oysters are
found in small corrugated shells scarcely larger than a good-sized
English walnut, which they somewhat resemble.
In the fish market one sees some very original characters among the
negro women who preside over the finny tribe. They are large,
good-natured creatures, quick at a trade, and quite intelligent. We
recall one, who was a prominent figure among her companions. She was
tall, portly, and strong as a horse. Her head was decked with a bandanna
kerchief of many colors, her flat nose and protruding lips indicating
close African relationship. Secured behind one of her ears was a
cigarette, while a friction match protruded from the other, ready for
use. Her coarse calico dress, of deep red, was covered in front by a
brown linen apron extending nearly to her bare feet. Her uncovered arms
were about as large as a man's legs. This negress dressed the several
kinds of fish with the facility of an expert, making change for her
patrons with commendable promptness, and dismissing them with a
good-natured smile, adding some remark which was pretty sure to elicit
hearty laughter.
As we stood viewing these things, a noisy fellow made himself very
obnoxious to every person whom he met. He had evidently been too often
to the neighboring spirit-shops. A police officer arrested the man by
touching him lightly on the shoulder and saying a few words to him;
then, pointing ahead, made the fellow precede him to the lock-up. Though
this disturber of the peace was half drunk, he knew too much to resist
an officer, which is considered to be a heinous offense and is severely
punished in Rio. It was natural to contrast this scene with the violent
resistance offered by offenders with whom the police of New York and
Boston have often to deal.
The streets of Rio, at all times of the day, present a motley crowd of
half-naked negroes, overladen donkeys, lazy Portuguese, Italian, and
Spanish loafers, smoking cheap cigars, with here and there a Jew hawking
articles of personal wear, women with various heavy articles upon their
heads, water carriers, vociferous sellers of confectionery, all moving
hither and thither, each one intent upon his or her individual interest
and oblivious of all others. The background to this kaleidoscopic
picture is the low, stucco-finished houses, painted in lively red,
yellow, or blue, interspersed here and there by bas-reliefs, the whole
reflecting the rays of a torrid sun. Though it is all quite different,
yet somehow it recalls the narrow, crowded streets and bazaars of Cairo
and Alexandria. It is very natural, in passing, to regard with interest
those screened balconies, and to imagine what the lives may be of the
half orientally excluded women within them, while occasionally catching
luminous glances from curious eyes. The notes of a guitar, or those of
the piano, often reach the ear of the passer-by, sometimes accompanied
by the ringing notes of a song, for the ladies of Brazil are extremely
fond of music; indeed, it seems to be almost their only distraction. Of
books they know very little, and any literary reference is to them like
speaking in an unknown tongue. Even the one poet of Portugal, Camoens,
appears to be a stranger on this side of the Atlantic. The isolation and
want of intellectual resort among the average women of this country are
a sad reality, and are in a degree their excuse for some unfortunate
indulgences and immoralities, domestic unfaithfulness being as common
here as in Paris or Vienna.
The majority of the Brazilian women marry at or before the age of
sixteen, and become old, as we use the term, at thirty. The climate and
the cares of maternity together age them prematurely. In early youth,
and until they have reached twenty three or four years, they are almost
universally very handsome, but this beauty is not retained, as is often
the case among the sex in colder climes. Of their charms, it must be
honestly admitted that they are almost purely physical (animal); the
beauty which high culture imparts to the features, by informing the mind
and developing the intellect, is not found as a rule among Brazilian
women. Of course there are some delightful and notable exceptions to
this conclusion, but we speak of the women, generally, of what is termed
the better class. Now and then one meets with ladies who have been
educated in the United States, or in Europe, upon whom early and refined
associations have left an unmistakable impress. The superiority of such
is at once manifest, both in general ease of manner, and the
inexplicable charm which high breeding imparts.
One searches in vain for a full-faced, well-developed, hearty looking
man, among the natives in the streets of this capital. The average
people, both high and low, are sallow, undersized, and cadaverous.
Sunken cheeks and thin figures are the rule among the men, a passing
North American or Englishman only serving to furnish a strong and
suggestive contrast. These people have brilliantly expressive eyes, with
handsome teeth and mouths, though half shriveled up and undeveloped in
body. If one pauses to analyze the matter, he comes to the conclusion
that vice and short commons, unwholesome morals and an unwholesome
climate, have much to do with this prevailing appearance, which must be
in part hereditary, to be so universal, commencing some way back and
increasing with the generations. As in Mexico, gentlemen meeting on the
streets of Rio hug each other with both arms, at the same time
inflicting two or three quick, earnest slaps with the flat of the hand
upon the back. This is perhaps after an absence of a few days; but if
they meet ten times a day, off come their hats, and they shake hands
with the most earnest demonstrations, both at meeting and at parting.
Kissing on both cheeks is common enough in many parts of Europe among
society people, but this hugging business between men meeting upon the
public streets strikes one as a waste of the raw material.
It goes without saying that the popular religion of Rio Janeiro and the
country at large is that of the Romish Church, though all denominations
are tolerated by the laws of the republic. In some districts it is the
same here as in Mexico and continental Spain, the Protestants being
persecuted in every possible manner. Nevertheless, the power of the
priesthood, we were creditably informed, is on the wane. They owe the
loss of it in a great measure to the gross abuse of their positions and
their shamefully immoral lives. No one conversant with the true state of
the case, be he Protestant or Romanist, can deny this statement. The
author thought that the Roman Catholic priests of Mexico were about as
wicked a set of men as he had ever met with, taken as a whole, but
further experience in South America has convinced him that the Mexican
priesthood have their equals in immorality in Brazil, and elsewhere
south of Panama. The popular religion of the country is one of the
saddest features of its national existence, forming the great
drag-weight upon its moral, and indirectly upon its physical progress.
The Botanical Garden of Rio is a justly famous resort, situated about
six miles from the city, behind the Corcovada, between that mountain and
the sea, but it is easily reached by tramway, or better still by a
delightful drive along the shore of Botafogo Bay, over a road shaded by
imperial palms, together with occasional clusters of the ever beautiful
bamboo, the sight of which recalled the luxuriant specimens seen in
Japan and Sumatra. The nearest approach to this admirable public garden
is to be found at Kandy, in the island of Ceylon, which, as we remember
it, is considerably more extensive, and presents a larger variety of
tropical vegetation. The examples of the india-rubber tree, especially,
are finer in the Asiatic garden than we find them at Rio. A tall,
slim-stemmed sloth-tree, straight as an arrow, and bare of branches or
leaves except at the top, was pointed out to us here. It is so called
because it is the favorite resort of that animal. This creature is very
easily captured, and the natives are fond of its meat, which may be
nutritious, but it can hardly be called palatable. As it is almost
entirely a vegetable-feeding animal, we know not why there should be any
objection to the meat it produces. The sloth climbs up into the tall
branches of the tree described, though it does so with considerable
difficulty, and there remains until it has consumed every leaf and
tender shoot which it bears; then the voracious creature wanders off to
find and denude another.
The bread-fruit tree is interesting, with its handsome feathery leaves,
and its large, melon-shaped product. It grows to fifty feet in height,
and bears fruit constantly for three quarters of the year, then takes a
three months' rest. It is only equaled in the profuseness of its product
by the banana, forming one of the staple sources of food supply to the
lazy, indolent denizens of tropical regions. The candelabra-tree, with
its silver-tinted foliage, is one of the beauties of this charming
Brazilian garden. Among other notable trees are fine specimens of the
camphor-tree, the tamarind, the broad-spreading mango, opulent in
fruitfulness, the flowering magnolia, also the soap-tree, with its
saponaceous berries. The cochineal cactus was thriving after its kind,
near by what is called the cow-tree, which interests one quite as much
as any of its companions, rising over a hundred feet in height, with a
red bark and fig-like leaves. The milk which it yields is of cream-like
consistency, very similar to that from a cow, and it may be used for any
ordinary purpose to which we put that article. The tree is tapped, as we
treat the sugar-maple, in order to obtain its very remarkable and useful
product. It is nutritious, that is freely admitted; but most probably it
has some medicinal properties of a latent character, though of this we
could learn nothing.
The world-famed avenue of royal palms in the Botanical Garden of Rio is
unique, being undoubtedly the finest tropical arboretum in the world
arranged by the hand of man. We saw here a delicate little member of the
palm family, a sort of baby tree, known as the small-stemmed palm of
Para. Many trees from Asia have become domesticated side by side with
the maple, the pine, and the elm from New England. Some of the large
trees were decked with orchids and hanging lichens, the dainty and
fantastic ornamentation of nature herself, not promoted by artificial
means. The humidity of the atmosphere especially facilitates the growth
of this beautiful family of plants, which are as erratic in shape as
they are variegated in prismatic colors.
It would require a whole chapter to do even partial justice to this
remarkable garden behind the Corcovado mountain.
One sees here myriads of delicate humming-birds, wonderful animated gems
of color, remarkable in Brazil for their metallic hues. Such brilliancy
of lustre, glancing in the warm sunlight, is fascinating to behold. The
Spaniards call these delicate little creatures "winged flowers," and the
Portuguese, "flower-kissers." A lady resident of Rio told the author of
the vain attempt of a patient German scientist to domesticate a few
specimens of these birds. He commenced by taking them from the nest soon
after they were hatched, at various periods of their growth, and even
after they had learned to fly, but although infinite care was taken to
supply their usual food, and also not to confine them too closely, the
naturalist was fain to acknowledge the impossibility of accomplishing
his object, though the experiment extended over a period of two years.
The ceaseless activity of this frail little bird renders any
circumscribing of its liberty fatal to existence.
Delicate, innocent, and apparently harmless as butterflies, these
diminutive creatures are often very pugnacious, and when two males
engage in a contest with each other, which is not seldom the case, one
or the other often loses his life. If disturbed during the period of
incubation, they will attack large birds and even human beings,
directing their long, needle-like bills at the offender's eyes. Our
informant told us the particulars of a man who, under such
circumstances, came very near losing both of these organs. Scientists
have succeeded in preserving over two hundred different specimens of
this little feathered beauty, representing that number of species
indigenous to Brazil. Some of these are only five or six times as large
as a humble-bee. The artificial flowers already referred to as being for
sale in the shops of Rio depend almost entirely upon the humming-bird
for their delicate beauty; no other feathered creature affords such
marvelous colors and exquisitely fine material for the purpose. The best
specimens of this work are necessarily expensive, requiring, besides a
truly artistic taste and eye, skill of execution, infinite patience, and
much time, to produce them. We saw a choice design of this sort,
measuring about fifteen by twenty inches, framed under a glass, the
design being a bouquet of natural flowers, for which the asking price
was five hundred dollars; four hundred and fifty had been refused. The
feathers were almost entirely from the throat and breast of
humming-birds, arranged by a woman who had made this work the occupation
of her life from girlhood. We learned that such a piece of artistic
effect represented nearly a year's labor!
One also finds in the Rio shops flower-pieces ingeniously formed from
the scales of high-colored fishes, as well as from the wings and bodies
of native insects characterized by brilliant colors, but these of course
will not compare in delicacy and beauty with the products of the
feathers. The Brazilian beetle is prepared in a myriad of ornamental
forms and in many combinations, sometimes mingled with feathers. In the
Rua dos Ourives there are two or three shops where a great variety of
such objects is offered for sale. These stores have also many choice
native stones of great beauty, including the true Brazilian topaz, for
which there is a growing and appreciative demand.
The idea prevails that the climate of Rio is like some parts of Africa,
suffocatingly hot all the time, but this is not correct. The American
consul told the author that he had suffered more from the cold than from
the heat in the environs of the city, where his residence is in a rather
elevated district. He declared that the temperature, even in town, was
rarely so extreme as is often found in the cities of the United States.
He believes that the yellow fever might be effectually banished from Rio
by the adoption of strict quarantine and effective sanitary measures in
the city proper. As we have already intimated, consumption prevails here
to an alarming extent. This is doubtless owing to the peculiar dampness
of the atmosphere. We found that statistics show one half as many deaths
from consumption as from yellow fever, taking the aggregate of five
years. "The one disease comes annually in the heat of summer only, as a
rule," said our informant, "while the other prevails more or less all
the year round, year in and year out." During the two weeks which the
author stopped at Rio, forty and fifty fatal cases of yellow fever a day
were recorded, and doubtless more than that number actually fell victims
to its ravages, as only those who died in the several hospitals were
enumerated. We were in the city in June, one of the winter months in
this latitude. Heretofore the fever has nearly always disappeared, as an
epidemic, by the first or middle of May, even in years when it has been
most prevalent and fatal. Notwithstanding the charm of novelty which so
absorbs the stranger, we are free to confess there was a lurking dread
of the subtle enemy which proved so swift and fatal all about us. Fifty
deaths daily by yellow fever in a population exceeding half a million
only served to show that it still lingered in a sporadic form where the
seeds are perhaps never entirely exterminated. It most readily attacks
strangers and the unacclimated, but no class is exempt. The indigent,
careless, drunken portion of the population are no more liable, we were
informed, to contract the disease than others of better habits. This
outrages all preconceived notions of diseases of this character, but we
were assured by good authority that it was really so. The day we left
Rio, the English Bishop, a most estimable man, who was universally
respected and beloved, died of the fell disease.
The summer season begins in October and lasts until April, and is better
known here as the wet season, the rain falling with great regularity
nearly every afternoon, and at about the same time. Usually an hour of
liberal downpour is experienced, then it promptly clears up and becomes
bright and pleasant. The warmest month is February. The winter months
are May, June, July, and August; this is the dry season, during which
very little rain falls. The climate appears to be particularly injurious
to persons who are troubled with a torpid liver. Elephantiasis is
indigenous, but it is not very common; the few cases seen were upon the
streets, and were those of negroes who exposed their diseased limbs to
excite public pity, making the affliction an excuse for systematic
begging. A score of such unfortunates were seen daily in and about
Palace Square, and one or two regularly posted themselves before the
Globe Restaurant, which is the Maison Doree of Rio Janeiro.
The well-to-do merchants do not think of living in town, but select some
pleasant spot in the environs, where they erect picturesque homes, often
extremely attractive to the eye architecturally, and surrounded by
lovely gardens, containing both native and exotic plants and trees. The
contrast between commercial and rural Rio is something very striking.
One presents all the grossness and belittling aspect of money-getting,
the other the graces, liberality, and ennobling appearance of culture
and refinement. Of all the trees in these attractive environs, the palm,
in its great variety, challenges one's admiration most. We mention it
frequently, for it was our constant delight. At every turn one comes
upon it, in its several species,--the cocoa-palm, the palmetto, the
cabbage, the assai-palm, the fanshaped-palm, and scores of other
varieties. The hand and taste of woman are seen in these gardens of the
environs. Flowers are selected and arranged as only feminine taste could
suggest, while the broad piazzas are simply floral bowers and gardens of
placid delights.
The province round about Rio is beautified and rendered profitable by
the many large coffee plantations, particularly attractive when the
well-trimmed bushes are seen in full bearing, bending under the weight
of red berries. Orange orchards abound, the branches of the trees heavy
with the rich golden fruit; yet as an orange-producing section, Florida,
in our own country, is fully its equal. The fruit of the southern part
of the United States is much better and more intelligently cultivated,
and is larger and fairer, than the fruit of this region. We except
Bahia, however, in this remark; that is the very paradise of oranges.
Besides the abundance of fruits, Flora reigns in Brazil, and near to Rio
bignonias, passifloras, variegated honeysuckles, morning-glories,
magnolias, and orchids mingle with the dark green mango trees and the
delicate light green mimosas which meet the eye everywhere. It appears
that the several species of flowers have their special season for
blooming, when they are at their best, so that a large variety is always
seen in bloom at all times in the year. We must confess to having felt
half lost without the "Queen of Flowers," our grand favorite; but as to
roses, it was found that the ever present ants maintained a fixed
hostility to them, rendering it particularly difficult to rear them in
this country. In all of the many lands we have visited, the author has
never seen such superbly developed roses as are produced in and about
the city of Boston. There is some quality in the climate of New England,
added to the genius of her famous florists, especially adapted to their
perfection.
The broad leafed umbrella-tree--_chapeo do sul_--is often seen in this
neighborhood cultivated as a shade tree, both in town and country, while
the thick clustering bamboo, so often referred to, adds its unique
beauty to the environs in all directions. The banana and plantain, both
cultivated and wild, thrive hereabouts, and form an important adjunct to
the food supply of all classes. The banana is cultivated by offsets, and
is of rapid growth, coming to maturity and bearing fruit a few months
after it is planted. Brazil seems to be well called the home of fruits
and flowers.
Has the reader ever chanced to hear of "Portuguese Joe," of Rio Janeiro?
He is a man as well known in the capital of Brazil as the late emperor.
Ostensibly he is only a successful shipchandler, wholesale grocer,
purveyor--by appointment--to the American and British naval ships which
put into Rio, or which are stationed here; but over and above his
extensive commercial relations, we found him to be a Good Samaritan. He
is quite ready for legitimate business, and has realized a handsome
fortune by fair and honorable dealing. He charges a reasonable profit
upon the various supplies which he furnishes, but his goods are exactly
what he represents them to be, and he has the confidence of all who deal
with him. His establishment grew up from a small beginning, he having
come from Portugal to engage in business when only thirteen years of
age. To-day he is in the prime of life, and his store on the Paraca de
Dom Pedro II. is a city institution. The highest official, the
wealthiest bankers, and the most influential merchants are glad to shake
him cordially by the hand. Signor J. C. V. Mendes--the other title being
a trade _nom de plume_ of long standing--is a gentleman by nature, and a
true friend to all strangers who seek his counsels on arriving at Rio.
We fortunately became acquainted with Signor Mendes on the first day of
our landing, and are glad to speak of his ready courtesy and desire to
make all Americans at home who arrive in the capital of Brazil. It is no
particular recommendation, but it is a pleasure to say that, with his
calm, self-possessed manner, his brilliant black eyes and genial smile
lighting up his bronzed features, he is unquestionably the handsomest
man whom we chanced to meet in Rio Janeiro. Manly beauty is not an
imperative adjunct to excellence, but is still a very agreeable
accessory.
One naturally anticipates but will not find any social distinction as to
race in this city. Color opposes no obstacle to progress in educational
or official position. Pupils of the public schools meet on the same
footing and mingle promiscuously. There is nothing to prevent the
intelligent negro from becoming a judge or minister of state, or from
filling any high civil office, if he develops proper ability. Many
bureaus in the public offices are held by colored men, observably in the
custom house, and the race generally is regarded with far more respect
than with us in the United States.
Providence has liberally endowed the larger portion of Brazil with a
fertile soil, an unrivaled flora, and a delightful climate. For a
tropical country, it is remarkably temperate and salubrious. It has
mountain scenery excelling that of Switzerland, with fertile valleys
surpassing those of Italy, and myriads of rivers affording ample means
of transportation with natural and abundant irrigation. Unlike many of
her sister states, including those on the west coast of the continent,
she is exempt from earthquakes and the destruction caused by devouring
tidal waves. While so much of Mexico and thousands of miles of the
Pacific coast are scorched by drought, there are no districts of Brazil
exempt from regular and refreshing rains, the importance of which cannot
be overestimated. To crown all else, the splendid harbor of her capital
by its size, safety, and beauty invites the commerce of the world. It
would certainly seem, when we realize all of these special advantages,
that nature had intended so large and favored a portion of the globe to
ultimately be the home of a great, powerful, and prosperous nation.
That the material growth of Brazil is mainly in the right direction is
manifest to the most casual observer. The many lines of railways
penetrating the country in every province will by and by prove to be
effective means of development. Wherever the facilities are liberally
afforded, not only individuals, but ideas, are sure to travel, and
social and material improvement must follow. Civilization keeps pace
with the iron horse. When the street rails penetrated the canons of
Utah, polygamy was doomed. Material facts are stronger than arguments of
well-meaning moralists. The establishment of so many railroads through
the wilds of South America may not be a paying matter, it is not so at
this writing, but a great moral purpose, and that of true progress, will
be subserved by them. They will be the agents of enlightenment and
civilization to many wild tribes of Indians, at the same time opening
broad and favorable tracts of territory for settlement by emigrants from
the crowded and overstocked states of Europe.
On the homeward passage, when we visited Rio Janeiro for the second
time, it was found to be rife with politics; but like Joseph's coat, of
so many colors as to be confusing to a foreigner. It may reasonably be
doubted if the natives themselves clearly understood what they wanted.
The revolutionary element seemed very strong, and was led by men who had
nothing to lose by agitation, but everything to gain by a lawless
uprising. The most intelligent citizens predicted a popular revolution
of some sort in the near future, and their anticipation proved to be
correct. Revolution is chronic in South America.