Chapter XXVII: Brazil—along the Coast to Santos

The extent of the great country, the exact title of which is the
United States of Brazil, most of us hardly realize. With fifteen
times the area of France, it covers more ground than the United
States without Alaska and our more recent acquisitions, is larger
than the whole of Europe, and is fifth in size (Percy Martin says
third) among the nations of the world. While now it contains barely
22 millions of inhabitants, about five to the square mile, the great
scientist and explorer Humboldt once prophesied that it would in the
future be the most thickly settled portion of the globe, since from
the richly productive nature of the soil life may there be supported
with small exertion.

Of a somewhat triangular shape, Brazil extends a distance of 2600
miles from north to south and 2700 from east to west. Although in
large part under or near the equator and without lofty mountains, it
yet has considerable elevation, averaging 2000 to 3000 feet over
more than half of its territory; not enough to occasion extreme cold
anywhere, but sufficient to induce a more healthful and comfortable
climate in such sections. Bordering on every South American country
except Chile and Ecuador, it is favorably situated for having
intimate commercial relations with all, when its settlements have
spread out in every direction, instead of being chiefly in districts
near the coast, with a few in the Amazon valley.

HISTORICAL

Accidentally discovered by Europeans within ten years after the
first landing of Columbus on Western soil, some years elapsed
before it received a permanent settlement. Pedro Álvarez Cabral,
a Portuguese nobleman, by good fortune holds the honor of having
in 1500 first beheld the most eastern shores of the American
continent. Sailing from Lisbon for the East Indies with a fleet
of vessels, Cabral was instructed by Vasco da Gama who had made
the first all-sea voyage to that region to bear away to the
southwest, in order to avoid the frequent calms off the coast of
Guinea, until he should reach 34° south latitude when he should
turn east. While following these directions, on the 2d of May
Cabral sighted a mountain which, as it was Easter week, he
called Paschoal. The next day he anchored off shore of the
present State of Bahia, to commemorate which event, May 3 is a
Brazilian national holiday and the date of the assembling of
Congress. Ten days Cabral remained at anchor taking formal
possession of the land, and having some communication with the
Indians who appeared friendly. On the news reaching Portugal in
the fall, another expedition was at once sent out and the coast
was explored almost to La Plata, nearly 2000 miles, by Amerigo
Vespucci, who was, however, disappointed by finding no wealth of
gold or silver and no civilized inhabitants. The only article of
immediate value seemed to be brazilwood which, furnishing a
bright red dye, was in demand in Europe. Thus the land was
called the Country of Brazilwood, soon shortened to Brazil.

The name America later bestowed upon the land which Vespucci
explored, and which _he_ first declared to be not a part of the
Orient but a separate continent, was afterwards extended to
include the northern half. Thus it seems peculiarly unfortunate
that we should arrogate to ourselves the title of being _the_
Americans, our only apology for so doing being the fact that we
have no other name by which we can be called, a fact, however,
which does not entitle us to forget that _there are others_.

The first real settlement by the Portuguese was made in January,
1532, at São Vicente near the port of Santos, soon after which a
second post was established on the high land above, in the
vicinity of São Paulo. Subsequently grants were made by King
John III of Captaincies, twelve in number, each, one hundred
fifty miles along the coast; these beginning at the mouth of the
Amazon and extending south to the island of Santa Catharina. Six
permanent colonies were founded, but the only ones early
amounting to much were Pernambuco and São Paulo, later Bahia and
Rio de Janeiro.

The Jesuits, who were prominent in the early settlements, gave
particular attention to Christianizing the Indians, bringing
them into settlements under their jurisdiction and instructing
them both in agriculture and in various industrial arts. Their
labors were chiefly in the States of São Paulo and Minas. As
their system interfered with the exploitation of the Indians by
the Paulistas these attacked the Jesuit settlements, within
twenty-five years, it is said, killing 300,000 of the natives,
and finally destroying all the Jesuit settlements on the upper
Paraná.

In 1558 a nobleman, Mem da Sa, a soldier, scholar, and able
administrator, as Governor, succeeded in consolidating the
government of the various colonies and in establishing the
Portuguese power on a firm basis, in spite of difficulties with
Indians and with French settlers. In 1581 Philip II of Spain by
obtaining the crown of Portugal became also the ruler of Brazil.
During the sixty years of Spanish domination the expansion of
Brazil to the west in territory which had been assigned to Spain
was permitted, as a matter of no importance, later, however to
involve unforeseen consequences.

In the seventeenth century there were years of struggle against
the Dutch who first, in 1623, captured Bahia, to lose it in
1627; in 1630 they captured Pernambuco which they retained
twenty-five years, at one time having under their control
two-thirds of the population and developed resources of Brazil,
Bahia and the southern provinces alone remaining in the hands of
the Portuguese. Portugal having meanwhile recovered its
independence from Spain, the Brazilians made continued efforts
under the leadership of John Fernandez to expel the Dutch. At
last they succeeded and January 26, 1655, the latter signed a
capitulation for the surrender of Pernambuco and all other
holdings in the country. This struggle fostered the development
of a national spirit among the colonies, while the fact that the
coast was held by the Dutch impelled the opening of land routes
of communication in the interior. Cattle ranges became numerous,
rumors of gold were heard, and in 1690 the Morro Velho, one of
the great gold mines of the world, was discovered.

The eighteenth century saw many conflicts in the south, in Rio
Grande and Uruguay, but in 1777 peace was declared with
boundaries as at present. During this period occurred a literary
development, six of the leading Portuguese poets appearing, not
in Rio, but in Minas, twenty days on muleback from the coast. In
1807, John, Prince Regent of Portugal, came over, fleeing, with
his court and with much property, from Napoleon. Received with
enthusiasm, he opened to commerce the five great ports,
encouraged literature, art, science, and education, and the
immigration of foreigners, thus inaugurating a movement which
gradually transformed the country. After the fall of Napoleon,
Prince John, returning in 1821 to Portugal, left his son Pedro
in charge, with the hint that if there was any likelihood of
Brazil asserting her independence, as the Spanish provinces had
done, he should put the crown on his own head. This on October
12, 1822, he did, being crowned Constitutional Emperor of
Brazil. The separation from the Mother Country occurred without
bloodshed in Rio, while from the remaining ports the Portuguese
garrisons were expelled with little difficulty. Troubles came
afterward. Pedro, regardless of the constitution, attempted to
be a despot. After quelling a revolt in the north, becoming
involved in war with Argentina which ended with the independence
of Uruguay, and having alienated his earlier supporters, he was
compelled in 1831 to abdicate in favor of his infant son. Stormy
times continued so that after a nine years’ regency Pedro II,
when only fifteen, was proclaimed of age and took the throne.
Nine years more were required for the pacification of the whole
country, when prosperity of all kinds followed. In spite of the
expensive war with Paraguay and other drawbacks, commerce
increased, general industry developed, and political reforms
were instituted. In 1888 during the absence of Dom Pedro in
Europe a bill for the abolition of slavery, having passed both
Houses of Congress, was signed by Princess Isabella as Regent.
In 1889 the old Emperor, who had returned, was summarily
expelled, without even twenty-four hours’ notice to gather
together his belongings; the diffusion of republican ideas among
the soldiery making the revolution possible without bloodshed. A
Provisional Government instituted many reforms, organized the
Provinces into States, established universal suffrage, the
separation of Church and State, etc. A Congress was assembled in
February, 1891, a constitution was adopted, and Deodoro was
elected President. Extravagance and insurrections followed, then
financial distress which reached its height in 1900. Since that
period the country has advanced rapidly in wealth, population,
and in all other lines of development.

The individual States are less closely bound together than with
us, and have greater power, being able to fix export and import
taxes against each other.

Before embarking at Montevideo for Brazil it is wise to procure a
little Brazilian money, which is more troublesome than any other. A
milreis is about 33 cents; but instead of having 100 cents in what
might be called their dollar they have 1000 reis. Five hundred reis
sounds like a good deal; to pay 200 or 300 for car fare appears
quite exorbitant; but remembering that 100 reis is only 3⅓ cents it
seems more reasonable.

The large majority of tourists will embark at Montevideo for Santos
in one of the fine ships of the Lamport & Holt Line, the Hamburg
American, or the _A_ boats of the Royal Mail, all of which are
comfortable, even luxurious. Ten days _must_ be allowed, and from
twenty to thirty will be enjoyed in the delightful cities of São
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is an immense country, larger, we
must remember, than the United States proper, and to see São Paulo
and Rio only, affords little more knowledge of the Republic than a
glimpse of New York and Boston gives of ours; yet in a four months’
tour of the continent, that is all that can be arranged. The
traveler with more time at his command may find pleasure and profit
in visiting other portions of the great Republic. This may be done,
so far as Southern Brazil is concerned, in two different ways. The
tourist may take at Montevideo one of the boats of the Brazilian
Lloyd Line, which call at the principal ports all along the coast,
and thus journeying in complete comfort, may visit many prosperous
cities, where he will be astonished by the high degree apparent, of
culture, of business energy, and of rapid growth and progress. Or,
if preferring as long as possible to avoid the sea, he may proceed
from Montevideo to Rio all the way by land, and thus gain some idea
of the great interior country, here so different from the vast
Argentine plain, with much variety in scenery and enormous
possibilities for future development.

This railway journey at present requires four or five days to São
Paulo, more time than by express steamer, and involves more fatigue
and hardship. At last accounts there were no through sleepers, the
road in places was rough and dusty and altogether slow. The distance
to Rio is nearly 2000 miles. But on a new road through a rapidly
developing country, quick changes and improvements may be looked
for, and by the time any of my readers is ready for the overland
journey, it is highly probable that it may be made in three days,
perhaps in through sleepers. In one of these, the tourist may now
set out from Montevideo, where details as to the comforts and
duration of the journey may best be secured. The entire region is
scantily peopled all the way to São Paulo and there is no unusual or
striking scenery, except in ascending to the plateau beyond Santa
Maria in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and in the descent to the
town of União in the Iguassú Valley. Along the route traveled,
Uruguay and Southern Brazil show a pretty country of rolling pasture
land to Passo Fundo in Rio Grande do Sul; then comes a hilly
district covered with primeval forest, chiefly pine, to Ponta Grossa
in Paraná and beyond, and in the State of São Paulo highlands,
agricultural and pastoral. A few villages of from 500 to 5000 people
are scattered along the way, with two towns, Santa Maria and Ponta
Grossa, of about 15,000 each. Within a few years it is possible that
a cross railroad, already planned, will be built from São Francisco
on the coast to União, the station above referred to in the Iguassú
Valley, and thence onward to the Iguassú Falls and Asunción. When
this road is finished it may be desirable to visit Montevideo from
Buenos Aires; returning thither one might go by rail or steamer to
Rosario and Asunción, then across to the Iguassú Falls and on by
rail to União and thence proceed to São Paulo. A coast railway is
now planned between Rio and Porto Alegre (963 miles) by which it is
expected that the journey will be made in 25 hours.

=Rio Grande do Sul.= By a coasting steamer, one will first visit the
State of Rio Grande do Sul, the most southern in Brazil, well away
from the tropics, hence with a temperate climate, much like that of
Georgia, and largely settled by Germans. For a State with
considerable seaboard, the location of its three chief cities on a
fresh water lake or lagoon may at first appear curious, yet of
course there is a reason. The coast being flat and generally sandy
the best harbor is the lagoon, separated from the sea by a sandy
spit of land only a few miles wide. The entrance, a narrow strait
near the south end, has a considerable sand-bar on which engineers
have been at work to secure a passage 33 feet deep, affording
ingress to large ocean steamers. This will greatly augment the
present important commerce. The larger steamers now entering go only
to the city _Rio Grande do Sul_ at the southern extremity of the
Lagõa dos Patos, Lagoon of the Ducks, named from one of the tribes
earlier inhabiting this region. The town has fine wide streets, many
handsome buildings, and in the Praça Tamandaré, on which stands the
Post Office and _Public Library_, one unique feature: the only
_monument_ in Brazil, it is said, _commemorating the freeing of the
slaves_. The citizens are justly proud of their Library of 40,000
volumes, probably the best south of São Paulo, and of the fact that
they possess the _oldest newspaper_ in _Brazil_ except the _Jornal
do Comercio_ of Rio.

=Porto Alegre.= As the Lagoon is 150 miles long (30 wide), it is a
long sail, 12 hours, to Porto Alegre, the capital and chief town of
the State at the northern end. Three hours from Rio Grande a call is
made at the pleasant town of _Pelotas_, beyond which there is little
to see on account of the width of the lagoon. The beef industry in
the form of salt beef factories is a chief feature of the prosperity
of Pelotas, and rows of beef strips hung up in the sun to dry, with
an occasional factory, may be seen for miles along the shore. Porto
Alegre, settled in 1742 by colonists from the Azores, after the
Prussian Revolution in 1848 received many Germans, so that
one-fourth of its 100,000 inhabitants are now of German descent. The
town has some handsome public buildings, including a City Hall with
marble columns from native quarries, and some that are old and ugly.
A large stone building near the quay houses the public market, where
fruit, vegetables, dairy products, etc., are sold at modest prices
in comparison with those at Buenos Aires and Rio. The climate is
healthful, with some freezing weather in the winter, and snow in the
mountainous section inland. Minerals are found in the State,
including coal, but the chief wealth is cattle; not the blooded
stock of Argentina but good enough for jerked beef. Also
agricultural products are important, one settlement, chiefly of
Italians, exporting annually a million dollars’ worth. A beautiful
waterfall 400 feet high called Herval may be visited a few hours
from Sapyranga on the railway between Porto Alegre and Taquara.

Going north from Rio Grande the steamers of the Brazilian Lloyd and
the Costeira lines call in the next State, Santa Catharina, at its
capital _Florianopolis_, one of the most picturesque of Brazilian
cities, on an island of the same name. Facing the mainland five
miles across the Strait, with a background of hills rising from 1000
to 3000 feet, it is a charming contrast to the more level country
previously visited. In the principal plaza a stone monument with a
pyramid of cannon balls at the top commemorates those who, as
Volunteers, perished in the Paraguayan War. Though a town of 30,000
people it is a quiet place where they mostly stay at home evenings
and go to bed by ten o’clock. A little farther north, the port of
_São Francisco_, called the best south of Santos, from the building
of the Iguassú, Paraguay, and other railways is destined to be of
great importance.

=Paranaguá.= In the State of Paraná, one of the most beautiful of
Brazil, detached in 1858 from the State of São Paulo, a call is made
at Paranaguá, its chief seaport, from which _yerba mate_, grown in
the interior, is an especially important export. In this State and
the next, the larger and pleasanter cities are on the high land in
the interior. The low semi-tropical strip along the shore is
separated from the plateau region within by the Serra do Mar or
Coast Range, extending far north very near the shore. Rivers, like
the Iguassú and Paraná, rising almost within sight of the Atlantic,
flow thousands of miles to increase the waters of La Plata. The
capital city, _Curytiba_, with 50,000 inhabitants, may be visited by
rail from Paranaguá, a delightful four hours’ journey of 60 miles,
among the valleys and up the slopes of the hills and mountains of
the Serra do Mar, the climb to an altitude of 3000 feet being made
without cogs or cables, by means of high trestles, bridges, and 17
tunnels. The journey is said to surpass in beauty the better known
ride from Santos to São Paulo, presenting a variety of natural
scenery seldom found in so short a trip, along with rich
semi-tropical vegetation, pine forests, and manifestations of
industrial development. The State spends more in proportion upon
education than does any other in Brazil. It possesses unlimited
resources in cattle, agriculture, mines, and forests. The pine tree
of Brazil, the _Araucaria brasiliensis_, especially prominent in
this State, differs greatly in appearance from pines in the United
States. They are a striking feature of the landscape, growing with a
single straight trunk, sometimes 125 feet, with a diameter of six
feet. Thus they somewhat resemble a palm, though crowned at the top
with branches in shape like a bowl, bare to the end, where globes of
dark crispy green leaves recall a candelabrum. All parts of the tree
are useful; the fruit is edible, the nut is used to manufacture
buttons, and the wood, for building and other purposes.

Beyond Curytiba the road goes on to meet the through line from
Montevideo at Ponta Grossa. Not far from the junction is a curiosity
called _Villa Velha_, old village, reminding of the Garden of the
Gods, but even more remarkable. The reddish rocks of sandstone have
had part of their formation cut away by time and water, leaving
rocks which resemble houses, walls, or ruins, some, 300 feet high
like castles and towers, with low bushes growing among them, the
whole having the appearance of an abandoned city. Curytiba, like São
Paulo, though much smaller, is a wide-awake, modern city with
handsome buildings, hotels, etc., and a boarding and day school
conducted by two American ladies. An important industry is the
preparation of _yerba mate_ for market, 20 large mills existing for
this purpose in various parts of the state. The _mate_ profits
sometimes reach 100 per cent.

In the vicinity of _Antonina_, a pretty town on the same bay as
Paranaguá, is a curiosity called _sambaquys_, mounds, 71 in number,
the work of a prehistoric race containing skeletons, pieces of
pottery and of polished stone of varying aspect, apparently
indicating a progress in culture through generations. Unfortunately
many of these remains have been put to the prosaic use of making
lime, but some near Lagõa Santa still await the archæologist and the
ethnologist.

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