^^^,

^A

THE LIBRARY OF
BROWN UNIVERSITY

THE CHURCH
COLLECTION
The Bequest of
Colonel George Earl Church
.

1835-1910

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL,

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE
By captain RICHARD

F.

BRAZIL.
BURTON,

F.R.G.S., ETC.

The aboriginal Indian ^Tupy)

VOL.

of Brazil.

I.

LONDON:
TINSLEY BROTHERS,

IS,

CATHERINE STREET, STRAND.
1869.

[All Rights of Translation aiid Ec^Jroduction reserved.]

EXPLORATIONS

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL;
A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE GOLD AND
DIAMOND MINES.
ALSO,

CANOEING DOWN 1500 MILES OF THE GREAT RIVER SAO FRANCISCO,

FROM SABARA TO THE SEA.

CAPTAIN RICHARD
F.R.aS.,

F.

BURTON,

ETC.

VOL. L

LONDON:
TINSLEY BROTHERS,

18,

CATHERINE

ST.,

1869.
[All Rights of Translation

and

Keprodioction reserved.]

STRAND.

BRADHURY, KVASS, AND

CO.,

PRINTERS. WHITEKRIARS.

1<^ 5

—

"

TO THE

EIGHT HON. THE LOED STANLEY,
&c. &c.

My

M.P.

P.C.,

&c.

Lokd,
I

pages.

HAVE

A

not solicited

honour of prefixing your name

tlie

to these

" Dedication by Pennission " might be looked upon as an attempt

to take sanctuary after

committing the crime of publishing harsh truths,

and of advocating opinions which are not those of an

But I am

influential majority.

tempted to address a fellow-anthropologist, whose

irresistibly

enlarged and enlightened world-knowledge, collected, not only in the Closet,

but by the close inspection of travel, and by the study of mankind, promises
to

our native land the broad measures and the solidly based policy which

during the last third of a century have shared the fate of other good intentions.

The

glorious year 1867, the

British Empire,

may take

as

its

commencement

" Anglia

Immo

Tour Lordship's name

own country

If this

my latest

is

well

known

is

who

and

acts

;

;

upon the

its fair rej)ort is

journey have the happy

so ardent for

by

to a people

effect of di'awing
gifts, so

development

its

;

to

all

other nations.

your attention to

abounding in

still

an Empire bound

to

latent

us by

high and honoui'able bearing in matters of

which excites our admiration by

glorious history as a Colony,

that of

belief that the welfare

advanced by the advancement of

the ties of commerce, and
public credit

era in the

sui-ge,

in the Brazil

the Brazil, a region so rich in Nature's
capabilities,

new

resurge, tuaiu refei'o tibi mortiite vitam.

a Statesman pledged to progress,
of his

of a

device

its

young and

and by a perseverance, a patriotism, and a

self-

DEDICATION.

vi

reliance in the last tlu'ee years' war, of

races

might be"proud

;

and

to a

which the proudest of Eui'opean

community endeared

to

and constitutional government, and by the friendly
from
that

its

my

Independence Day, I shall not

deem

us by its monarchical
relations

which date

(to use the stereotyped phrase)

time and labour have been expended in vain.
I have the honour to be,

My Lord,
Tour most obedient humble

EICHAED

servant,

F.

BUETON,

Ex-President Anthrop. Soc. London.
Santos, Sao Paulo,

July 23, 1868.

PEEFACE.
Before

my

tlie

reader dives into the interior of Brazil with

husband as a medium,

me

let

address two words to

him.
I

have returned home, on

One

after three years in Brazil.
I

am

six

months' leave of absence,
of the

to execute for Captain Burton,

is

many

commissions

to see the following

pages through the press.
It

has been

my

privilege,

during those three years, to

have been his almost constant companion

;

and

I consider

that to travel, write, read, and study under such a master,
is

no small boon

to

any one

desirous

of seeing

and

learning.

Although he frequently informs me, in a certain Oriental
way, that "the Moslem can

permit no equality with

women," yet he has chosen me,

his pupil, for this distinc-

tion, in preference to a

As long

as there is

incurred, or

begin to

friends,

I

anything

feel,

am

difficult to do,

a risk to be

a very faithful disciple

;

but

I

that while he and his readers are old

am humbly

of his glory.

stranger.

any chance of improving the mind, and of

educating oneself, I

now

more competent

standing

It is therefore

firmly to assert, that,
trust confided to me,

unknown

time for

although

I

me

in the

shadow

respectfully but

proudly accept of the

and pledge myself not

to avail

myself

PREFACE.

viii

my

of

discretionary

original

powers to

I protest

text,

one word

of

the

vehemently against his reUgious

and moral sentiments, which
life.

alter

belie a

good and chivakous

I point the finger of indignation particularly at

what

Holy Roman Catholic Church, and at
what upholds that unnatural and repulsive law, Polygamy,
which the Author is careful not to practise himself, but

misrepresents om^

from a high moral pedestal he preaches to the ignorant as
a means of population in young countries.
I

am

subjects

compelled to
;

but, be

it

differ

wdth him

many
common

on

understood, not in the

other
spirit

of domestic jar, but with a mutual agreement to differ

and enjoy our

differences,

whence points of

interest never

flag.

Having now

justified myself,

ing to a fair or gentle reader,
themselves,

—

I

leave

him

and given a friendly warn-

—the

rest

must take

care of

or her to steer through these

anthropological sand-banks and hidden rocks as best he or

she may.

ISABEL BUETON.
14, MoNTAou Place,
Montagu Square, W., London,

November, 1868.

:

;

:

THE LUSIADS OF CAMOENS.
CANTO

VI.

STANZA XCV.

Amid

such scenes with danger fraught and pain,

Serving the fiery spirit more to 'flame,

Who

A

wooes bright Honour,

lie shall

ever win

true nobility, a deathless fame

Not they who

Upon

love to lean, unjustly vain.

th' ancestral trunk's

departed claim

Nor they reclining on the gilded beds
Where Moscow's Zebeline downy softness

;

spreads.

Not with the viands new and exquisite,
Not with the wanton languid promenade,
Not with the varied infinite delight
Which can so much the generous bosom jade
Not with the never conquered appetite.
Which Fortune, ever delicate, hath made.
Which suffers none to change and seek the meed
Of Valour daring high heroic deed
:

But by

a

doughty arm and weapon's grace

Gaining the glory which

With weary

vigil, in

is all

his

own

;

the steel-forged case,

'Mid wrathsome winds and bitter billows thrown
Conquering the torpid rigours in th' embrace

Of South, and regions

destitute

and

lone,

Swallowing the tainted rations' scanty dole

Temper'd with

toil

of body, moil of soul

;

:

;

;

THE LUSIADS OF CAMOENS.

Forcing the

face,

with fullest raastciy,

Confident to appear, and glad, and sound,

When met

the burning balls, which, whistling by,

Bespread with
"lis thus the

feet

and arms the battle ground,

bosom, nobly hard and high.

Spurns gold and honours with contempt profound
Gold, honours, oft by thrust of chance obtain'd,

And

not by dint of virtuous daring gain'd.
xcix.

Thus grows the human spirit heavenly bright.
Led by Experience, truest, excellent guide
Holding

in view, as from

some towering height,

The maze of mortal littleness and pride
He who his path thus lights with Reason's
"Wliich weak affections ne'er have might to
Shall rise (as rise he ought) to honour true,

Against his will that would not stoop to sue.

light,

hide.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

PRELIMINAEY ESSAY

1

CHAPTER.

—WE LEAVE RIO DE JANEIRO
—AT PETROPOLIS
— FROM PETROPOLIS TO JUIZ DE FORA
—AT JUIZ DE FORA
—FROM JUIZ DE FORA TO BARBACENA

I.

19

II.

30

III.

34

IV.

49

V.

54

—THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES
—AT BARBACENA
— GUP. —THE HOTEL. — THE MULES

VI.
VII.
VIII.

IX.

....

80
89

— FROM

BARBACENA TO NOSSO SENHOR DO BOM JESUS DE
MATOSINHOS DO BARROSO

— FROM BARROSO TO SAO JOAO D'EL-REI
—A WALK ABOUT SAO jolo d'el-rei
Side)
—THE NORTH OF SAO JOAO D'EL-REI
— TO AND AT SAO JOSE D'EL-REI
XIV.—TO THE ALAGOA DOURADA OR GOLDEN LAKE
XV. —AT THE ALAGoA DOURADA
XVI. — TO CONGONHAS DO CAMPO
XVII. — AT CONGONHAS DO CAMPO
—TO TEIXEIRA
XIX. —TO COCHE D'AGUA
XX. — TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO VELHO
XXI.— NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES
X.

XI.

XII.

70

(Soutli
.

.107

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

136

.145

.

.

152
156

167

XVIII.

175
181

.

.

116

.126

XIII.

.

99

.188

.

.

.

.

200

CONTENTS.

xii

CHAPTER

—LIFE AT MORRO VELHO
—THE PAST AND PRESENT

PAGE

220

XXII,
XXIII.

OF THE

ST.

JOHN DEL REY

MINE AT MORRO VELHO

—LIFE

XXIV.

— DOWN

XXV.
XXVI.

—THE

YELRO— {Continued)

.

.

BIRTH OF THE BABE

WHITE MINER AND THE BROWN MINER

" ROSSA

.

.

—TO CONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA
XXXI. — TO CATAS ALTAS DE MATO DENTRO
XXXII,— TO MARIANNA
XXXIII. — AT MARIANNA
XXXIV. — TO PASSAGEM (THE PASSAGE OF
XXX.

279

DA ILHA

.

.

....

AND

MARIANNA)

333

—VILLA RICA, NOW OURO PRETO (Wcst End)
XXXVI,— OURO PRETO CONTINUED (East End)
XXXVII.— TO ITACOLUMI PEAK
,

—
—TO CUIABi.

.

.

.

,

344

.

360
376

383

XXXVIII.

XL.

303

320

XXXV.

XLI.

290

314

OURO PRETO

TO SABARA

262

270

GRANDE"

— THE MINEIRO
XXXIX, — RETLTIN TO MORRO

236

253

BLACK MINER

— TO

.

245

—THE

XXIX.

.

THE MINE

— THE

XXVII.
XXVIII.

AT MORRO

230

VELHO

416

423
435

a

THE

HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.
PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
The

Brazil

is,

especially to the foreign traveller, a land of

As he disembarks

specialties.

at

Pernambuco the questions
Is he a Mer-

proposed to him, even from the guard-boat, are
chant ? an Engineer ? a Naturalist ? a Doctor ?

:

—No

—

then he
presume that he is not a Royal
Duke or a " Bristol Diamond," with loan legibly -smtten on his
brow he will do well, especially if bound for the Far West in the
Land of the Southern Cross, to be or to become one of the five

must be a Dentist

!

And

—I

!

—

recognised castes.

Like the stranger herd, Brazilian authors have also been

When the
mostty specialists, each bound to his specific end.
Annalists of the Jesuits and the Franciscans had had their day,
the old travellers preceding the savans

who were charged with

the demarcation of the frontiers were explorers

who,

if

they An'ote at

Among

all,

])\xre

wrote only Roteiros or

and simple

;

Itmeraries.

Portuguese may be mentioned the celebrated
Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira, sent in 1785-6 on a

the

natm-alist,

The active
expedition to the River of the Amazons.
and intrepid Paulista, Dr. de Lacerda (1790), who, by-the-bye,
was forbidden to use instruments by a certain D. Bernardo Jose
de Lorena, Captain-General of the Provmce of Sao Paulo
veritable Sultan of Waday
and who died at the Capital of the
African Cazembe, was a mathematician and astronomer. Dr.
Jose Vieii'a Couto (1800-1), of Tejuco, now Diamantma, was a
mmeralogist so was the Pater Patriae the Venerable Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva, of Santos (1820). Major Coutinho, the
scientific

—

—

;

experienced Amazonian traveller,
YOL.

I.

is

an

officer of engineers.
B

"

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2

The Netherlanders,

in the olden days, sent the litterateur and
Gaspar Baerle, alias Barlseus (" Eerum per
Octennium in Brasilia' gestarum Historia," Amsterdam, 1647),
whose j)onderous Latin folio has now an anthi'opological interest;
Piso of Leyden, and the German Marcgraf (1648), who laid the
historiogra^Dher,

fomidations of systematic botanical study; Ai-noldus Montanus

Dapper and G. Nieuhof
Germans are Hans Stade (1547)
the
Prince Maximilian of "NVied Neuwied (1815-1817), naturalist and
ornithologist; and H.R.H. Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who
(1671), plagiarised by the often quoted

Amongst

(1862).

travelled in Brazil

;

the

;

;

* the savans Spix and Martins (1817-1820),!

Humboldt I and Bonpland

the Baron
of Southern America
von Eschwege, a mineralogist
besides the elder Varnhagen
and Schuch (senior), Langsdorff and Natterer, Pohl, Bunneister,
and other names well known to science.

the

;

;

The French, not to mention the ancients, as De Sery (1563),
the " Montaigne of the old travellers "
the Capuchin Claude
;

Yves d'Evreux (1613-14), and Eoulox Baro
(1651), have contributed the mathematician La Condamine
the botanist Auguste de St. Hilaire (1816-1822)
the naturalist
Count Francis de Castelnau (1843-1847) and the astronomer
d' Abbeville

(1612),

;

;

M. Liais (1858-1862). Besides these are the less reputable
names of M. Expilly (1862), who, as his " Bresil tel qu'il est " §
tells us, came out as a maker of phosphorus matches
and M.
Biard (1862), who came out as a portrait jiainter, and who
;

produced a notable caricature.
The Anglo-Americans sent Messrs. Hernden and Gibbon,
ofl&cers of theu' navy (1851), to reconnoitre the Valle}' of the
Amazons. Mr. Thos. Ewbank (1856) was an engineer. The
two valuable and now neglected volumes of Mr. Kidder (1845)
*

Travels of H. R.

II.

Prince Adalbert

of Pnissia in the South of Eurojie and in
Brazil, with a voyage uj) the Amazon and the

Translated by Sir Robert H.
Schomburgh and John Edward Taylor. 2
vols.
Boguc London, 1849. The Counts
Bismarck and Oriolla accompanied this
traveller, who ascended the Xingd as far as
Xingti.

:

Piranhaguara.
Ijy
Dr.
Joh.
f Travels in Brazil,
Bapt. von SpLx and Dr. C. F. Phil, von
Martins.
London
Longmans, 1824.
2
vols. octavo.
I saw this translation at the
little English Librarj',
Pemambuco, but
have never been able to procure the original.
_

:

According to M. de Castelnau the
of Rio de Janeiro preserves a
curious document, highly characteristic of
colonial days
this is an order to arrest and
to deport Humboldt, if ever found upon

t

Librarj'

:

Brazilian

soil.

with pleasure the judgment
passed by M. Liais u])on this disreputable
production (L'Espace Celeste, 210): " C'est
faire injure au bon sens de ses lecteurs que
Au reste
d'ecrire de pareiUes absurdites.
le livre en question est rempli d'inexactiintitule
I'avait
le Bresil
tudes.
Si I'auteur
tel qu'il 7i'est pas, il serait d'une verite
§

I

parfaite.

cite

"

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.

8

were written by a missionary, and the joint production of Messrs.
Kidder and Fletclier was the work of missionaries.* Of late

sundry "opuscules" have been published by ''General" Wood,
Dr. Gaston, and the Eev. Mr. Dunn, colonists, and by Capt.

John Codman, who commanded a steamer upon the coast.
We English have given the "British merchant" Luccock
(1808-1818)
the mineralogist John Mawe (1809-1810)
the
accurate Ivoster (1809-1815), settled in trade at Pernambuco
the Reverend Mr. Walsh, High Church and Protestant (1820)
Dr. Gardner, the botanist (1836-1841); Mr. Henry Walter
Bates, the accomplished natm-alist and entomologist (1847-1859),
who, in his earlier labours on the Amazons Eiver was accompanied by Mr. A. P. Wallace Mr. Hadfield (1854), who visited
the coast and prospected for it steam navigation the naturalist,
Mr. R. Spruce and the engineer, Mr. William Chandless, who
are still pushing their adventm-ous way to the skii-ts of the Andes.
Nor must I conclude this skeleton list without mentioning Dr.
Lund, the learned Dane, who lived amongst the extinct Saurians
in the caverns of Minas Geraes, and the ichthyologist and
"man of pure science," Professor Louis Agassiz of Boston (18651866), a traveller received with the greatest enthusiasm of which
;

;

;

;

;

;

;

the Brazil

In this

is

capable.

brilliant

somewhat out of

—

e

assembly a mere tourist would or should feel
I, however, had also an especial object,

place.

son pittor anch'

io.

H.

I.

Majesty had remarked with

much

becoming better known to
Europe than the Central Brazil.! Even at Rio de Janeiro few
would believe that the valley of the Rio de Sao Francisco,
popularly but ungeographically called the Southern Mississippi,
is in any but a state of nature.
My plan then was to \dsit the
future seat of Empire along the grand artery
how I would
truth that

Central Africa

is

fast'

;

* Brazil

and the Brazilians, portrayed
and descriptive sketches by
Rev. D. P. Kidder and Rev. J. C. Fletcher.
Philadelphia Childs & Peterson. London

in historical

:

:

Triibner

&

Co. 1857.

A new

&

Co.

,

with
by Jlessrs,

edition,

corrections, has lately been issued

Sampson Low

London.
has been

This production
somewhat
harshly described in semi-official documents
as an "elaborate fulsome puflf which has
done much mischief." Its principal injury
to the public has been to engender an im-

pudent plagiarism, printed

in

1860 by the

Tract

56

Paternoster

Religious

Society,

Row, London, and entitled "Brazil

:

its

History, People, Natural Productions, &c.
f I do not call the country "Brazil,"

when she does not

;
nor indeed does any
other nation but our own.
Worse still is
the popular anachronism "Brazils," which
was correct only between a.d. 1572 and
1576, when the State was split into two
governments and yet the error still lives
in the best informed of our periodicals.
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

4

make known

the vastness of

its

wealth and the immense variety

of its ijroductions, -which embrace all things, between salt and

man can desire. In Minas Geraes alone the
"
countrj' as large and a soil and cHmate as fertile
traveller finds a
and salubrious as those of England,"* an atmosphere of " (pstas
diamonds, that

et

non

(estiis"

frosts " is

—

where the " tyranny of nipping winds and early

unknown

;

and, finally, a ft habitat

— or

rather the old

man

about to be, when the so" I hold to
called temperate regions shall have done their work.
the opinion," says Mr. Bates, " that though humanity can reach

home!

for the nobler tropical

an advanced stage of culture only b}' batthng \\-ith the inclemencies
of nature in high latitudes, it is under the Equator alone that the
perfect race of the future will attain to complete fruition of
man's beautiful heritage, the earth."
The date of my journey fell happily enough. The Seventh
of September, that glorious Independence Day of the Brazil,
worthily'' commemorated itself by throwing open to the merchant
shijis of all nations the Ilio de Sfio Francisco and the Sweetwater Mediterranean fiulher north. The Minister of Agriculture
and Public "Works had dcsi)atched a steamer to be i)ut together
on the upper com'se of the stream. The President of Minas had
lately granted to a Brazilian civil engineer a concession to exploit

An
by steamer the tributary valley of the Rio das Yelhas.
Enghsh suiweyor was laying out a line of rails to connect the
Capital of the Empii'e with the City of Sahara, the futui'e St.

Louis thus it was proposed to link to the Southern Atlantic the
water-way which receives a thousand streams, that drains 8800
square leagues of one province only, and which is ready to suj)port twenty instead of the present poor two millions of souls.
Nor is this all. The youngest of empires and the only
monarchy in the New "World, so richly dowered with physical
beauty and material wealth still buried in her bosom, so magni;

in geographical position, with

ficent

a

coast line like that

of

Euroi^e between the North Cape and Gibraltar J appears to be
* The area of England
of Minas Geraes

miles;

is

57,812 square
20,000 square

leagues.

f "It
valleys

of

is

rather

in

tropical or

the great alluvial
sub-tropical rivers,

Ganges, the Irrawaddy, and the
Nile," (let me add, the Euphrates, the
Kiger, and the Indus), " where we may ex-

like the

pcct to detect the vestiges of man's earliest
abode."
Falconer, (^uart. Joum. of Geol.
1865. And the great L;iw of Progre.ssion is
apparently evolving the future continents
and islands of earth more rapidly within the
tropical than in the temperate latitudes.
+ M. Van Straten de Ponthez (Le Bresil,
ii. 27).
Sir John Herschel (Physical Geo-

—

f

+

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
In 1852,* when the importation of
the country was dismayed, and not

Fortune's favourite child.
slaves

became a

nullity,

without reason, by the prospect of a deficient labour-market.
Comj)ulsor3^ service was then the sole source of prosperity to the

agricultmist

;

it

was purely and simply his gagne-pain.

But her star, her " good luck,"

as say those hostile to the Brazil,

In 1860 South Carolina " retracted the connection of
State and Union," and resumed her independence.
Five 3'ears
afterwards Southerners began to exchange for happier regions
theu' desolate homes.
The movement w^as fondly fostered bj'" the
Brazilian Government
and in January, 1868, the number of the
immigrants was stated as follows
prevailed.

;

:

—

Province of Parana § (near Curitiba, Morretes, and Paranagua)
Sao Paulo (Ribeira district, Campinas, Capivarhy, &;c.)
Rio de Janeiro (in and about the capital)
Minas Geraes (Rio das Velhas, &c.)
Espirito Santo H (on the rivers Doce, Linhares, and Guandu)

.

.

.

||

.

200 persons.
800
„
200
„
100
„
400
„

Bahia

100

„

Pernambuco

70
200

„

Para
Total
graphy,

p.

informs us that

87),

Soutli

America has an area of 6,800,000 square
miles, and a coast line of 16,500 ("1 to
420 "—1 412 !), and that it has "little
:

to boast of good harbours." This cannot be
said of the Brazil, which has some of the
finest ports in the world.

* In

1850 the import slave-trade was
law in 1852 the most active
measures were taken, and since that time
it has virtually lieen extinct.
A committee
of the House of Commons (July 19, 1853)
gave the following figures
In 1847 imported 56,172
1848
60,000
,,
,,
1849
54,000
,,
,,
1851
3,287
,,
,,
In 1853, imported 700 (of whom the
greater part were seized by Government).
In 1854 the only slave-ship was seized
by the authorities in the Bay of Serinhaem
(Pernambuco), and the cargo was set free.
This was the effect of an enlightened
majority, who, as M. Reybaud says, raised
the cry, " No more traffic in slaves
European colonisation " It was far from being
the work of cruisers.
On May 3, 1862,
Mr. Christie reported officially to H. ]\I.'s
lirohibited liy

;

:

!

!

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that
the importation had wholly ceased, and that
its revival appeared an impossibility
and
yet we have retained the Aberdeen Bill,
one of the greatest insults which a strong
ever offered to a weak people.
;

.

„

2700

.

+ A work lately

published and attrihuted
late Maximilian, who
visited Bahia between June 11 and June
19, 1860, gives a melo-dramatic episode of
a fight inside the Bay between a slaver and
a cruiser.
Unfortunately, it adds tliat the
slaves who saved themselves by swimming
were employed by the Bahian Railway, whose
concession severely prohibits sei-vile labour.
J J^Ij authority is Mr. Charles Nathan
of Rio de Janeiro, who in 1867 contracted
with the Imperial Government to bring out
in 18 months 1000 families, or 5000 agriculturists.
In the list given above he does
not include "the New York thieves, &c.,who generally work themselves to the Plate
lliver in a few months."
The change of
steamer-embarkation from New York to
Mobile and New Orleans has partly remedied
the "scum "evil,
§ Principally settled by Missourians,
who come with considerable capital, and
who in a few years will make this centre
very important.
Mr. C. A. Glennie, long acting Consul
at Sao Paido, estimates the emigration to
the Ribeira at 400
500 souls, and the rest
who have passed thi'ough Santos, at 375

H.

to

I.

M.

the

||

—

souls, or

% The

75 families x

5.

Rio Doce is preferred on account of
magnificent scenery, facilities for transport, and superior soil upon which the
plough can be used,

its

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

6

Tlie official list of immigrants into Eio de Janeii'o dui-ing 1867

gives

:

Portuguese

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
tropical

7

of the Brazil to be a home for Frenchmen.
more, then, for the swarming hive of Northern Em-ope

plateau

How much

and for the Anglo- Scandinavians, vulgarly called Anglo-Saxons,
who, at an earlier and more energetic x^eriod of theu' history,
would have asserted and proved themselves to be the natural

Temperate zones of the world ?
state that every pound sterling
charitably wasted upon catechizing races about to perish, and upon
the barren hopeless savagery of Africa and AustraUa, is a pound
We still devote fifteen vessels
diverted from its proper pm'pose.
of war, 1500 men, and nearly a million of money per annum, to
sujpport a Coffin or Sentimental Squadron, which has ever proved
itself powerless to prevent negro-export, whenever and wherever
black hands were in due demand, and whose main effect upon AVest
Africa has been to pamper " Sa Leone," that Hamitic Sodom
and Gomorrah, to fill a few pockets, to act as a iDolitical machine
for throwing dust into the public eyes, and greatly to increase the
miseries of the slave and the misfortmies of his contment.
At the same time we boast of more than 900,000 paupers or
colonizers of the South

It is evident in om' present

persons in receipt of

relief.

Our

poor-rates cost us per

a total, actually expended, of 6,959,000/.
over 1866 varies from 4'8 to 19*6 per cent.

:

annum

the increase of 1867

Population advances

home in a geometrical, subsistence in an arithmetical,
The plague-spot of England has been declared to be

in the old
ratio.
**

over- suckling and under-feeding."

Overcrowding produces the

horrors of the Black Country, and of Terlmg and Witham in the
**
Calf County." Hence the state of " City Ai-abs," of bondagers

and hop-pickers, of "

Shefiield

saw-grmders

and Manchester

brickmakers."

The million and a half per annum thus thrown away upon
" propagatmg the faith " and maintaining a Squadron effete in its
political use, would long ere tliis have grown to be a " removal
fund."

It

Connaught

would have made loyal emigrants of the unfortunate
Irish, and would have supplied strong arms and

wilUng hearts to om' colonies, that

still

farm-labourers and house-servants.

want, as does the Brazil,

Durmg

the last score of

we have allowed millions to exile themselves from our
shores and to become Fenians in the New World, a thorn in the
3'ears

words of
to use no harsher term, of our rule, and a

side of the present generation, preaching to the world in
fire

the inefficiency,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

8

BRAZIL.

But the fatal system based upon the
" Apres nous le Deluge,^' and the
"
non
movere,'"
Quieta
tripod
Glencrow
grateful
so
to the feeble and the supercommand of
annuated in body and mind, has allowed us to di'ift into this oiu'
scandal to future ages.

and least excusable difficult}'.
Half a generation ago, the Irish landlord, the propagator of
constitutions and the supporter of " oppressed nationalities,"
must have known that at least about Sligo discontent was rife,
that armed men were drillmg at night, that Catholics had thrown
off the trammels of the priest and the confessional, and that
Ii'ishmen were ready at any moment to strike a blow for what

latest

they held to be then- rights.

was not, however, judged proper

It

to startle the

many

respect-

ables into whose hands the fortunes of Great Britain had fallen
since the year of grace 1832, and from

whom

only 1867 and

its

The volcano might throb and
mider the feet of the initiated few, but they were bomid to
feel it and to make no sign.
Every parliamentary question upon
the subject was answered in a style the most jaunty, off-hand,
and self-sufficient no motion could be made without incurring
personal ridicule or obloquy, and the result has been 1867.
Thus f{ir the damage done is irreparable, but we may still prevent the evil from spreadmg.
The Anglo-Scandinavian and the Anglo-Celt have been deconsequences can

liberate us.

boil

;

scribed

the

as

"na\'vies" of the

great

mountains are levelled

;

convert the desert place into a garden
the

Land

live.

or

it

— Utah

is

many

hard to

The workman coming

—an

cities,

they

becomes Deseret,
wants them they,
;

a happier

to the Brazil a miner, a carpenter,

a blacksmith, becomes a mining-captain

owner

Before them

The world still
home than Great^Britain, where,
understand how a poor man can consent to

of the Honey-bee.

in turn, can find

indeed,

globe.

they dig rivers, they build

—perhaps

agent or land-proprietor, an engineer.

a mine-

The

petty

shopkeeper in Europe here calls himself at least a merchant,
possibly a capitaHst. The hedge-schoolmaster is a professor ; the
clerk rises from 100/. to 300/. a-year.

The

governess, so far from

being an upper servant, with a heart-wearying lot before her, too
often becomes the head of the establishment, and rules

it

with a

rod of iron.

To

these

and many others, especially to the unmarried of

—
PRELIMINARY ESSAY.

9

Europe, the Brazil may say, in the words of Holy Writ
" Venite ad me omncs qui lahoratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam
vos."
It has been said that the lower orders of Englishmen, which
word includes Irishmen, do not, as a rule, flourish in the Tropics
that they are mostly, when " left to themselves," a race
;

Of men degenerate surely, who have strayed
Far from the lustrous glories of their sires,
Deep-mired in vanities and low desires.

But

these pages will prove that, with discipline and under strict

and when Southerners from the
United States shall have settled in the Empire, these men, so
well accustomed at home to "drive" whites and to deal with the
jjroletaires and the colluvics gentium of Europe, will soon supply
surveillance, they can do wonders,

the necessary curb.

Hitherto the Brazil has suffered from being virtually a terra

She is deficient in that powerful interest
"
which arises from nearness," and she subtends too vast an angle
The books published upon the subject are mostly,
of vision.
they are, therefore, of the
I have said, those of speciahsts
category " hiblia a hihlla " and none can be catalogued as
belonging to the class " which no gentleman's library should be
incognita to Europe.

:

;

without."

But

as far

back as 1862, the London Exhibition proved that

this region excels all others in supplying the peculiar species of

cotton wdiich

oui*

manufacturers most demand.

Since that time

the fleeting thought of war perhaps did good to both countries

by introducing them to each other. And now our ever-increasing
and commercial, with this vast and admirable
section of the South American Continent, must lead in time to
a closer and better acquaintance than anything that we can now
imagine. A great national disgrace was required to atone for the
national sin of neglecting our East Indian possessions.
The
Brazil, I believe, now incurs no risk of being forgotten.
In 1864-5, whilst all other nations exported to the Empii'e

relations, social

6,850,300?., Great Britain supplied 6,309,700L out of a total of

During 1865-6, the figures became respectively
and the united sum 13,809,500Z. The
year 1866-7 presents, notwithstanding large purchases of raw
13,160,000L

6,434,400Z., 7,375,100?.,

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

10

This, however,

materials, a large decline.*

is transient,

the effect

of depreciated currency and of deficient industry, resulting from
a three years' campaign that drained gold and blood to a distant

region

—in

a

fact,

Crimean

in South America.

affair

Anglo-Brazilian debts amount to a

My motto

little

in these volumes, as in others, has
Dizei

em tudo

Finally,

above 14,000,000?.

been

a verdade

A quern em tudo a deveis.

And

certainly the Public has a right to the writer's fullest confi-

It is, however, no pleasant office, when treating of the
Gold Mines worked by English companies, to describe correctly
But it is not just that the
the system which has " got them up."
Brazil should bear blame for the unconscience of those who "rig
her markets ;" and when '' Brazilian specs are not favom'ites: all
the Stock and Joint- Stock Companies connected with the comitry
are at a discount " whilst the money market Review threatens the
Empire with the thunders of that monetary Vatican, the Stock
Exchange and when it is reported, even at this moment, that
the Brazil, before effecting a loan, will be compelled to pay debts
which she does not owe, it is only fair to show the cause, and to
Of course, unless the
call wrong acts by their right names.

dence.

;

;

whole trick be told, it is better not to tell the tale at all. The
reader, however, will perceive, it is hoped, that I have pointed to
describing two sucthe system, not to individuals, and that
cesses amongst a dozen failm-es, I have done my best homage to

m

honesty and energy.
AVhile sketching the Highlands of Brazil as far as they were
*'
beautifivisited by me, my handiwork is totally deficient in the

cation" of which " serious travellers" complain. It is mostly a
succession of hard, dry photogi-aphs with rough lines and dark,

raw colom-s, where there

is

The sketch, in
The day must

not a sign of glazing.

fact, pretends only to the usefulness of accuracy.
* The Brazil imported from
Durintr the half-year ending

June 30,
During the
June 30,
But even

1866

.

.

England—
£3,789,882

half-year ending

1867
^ath tins falUng
.

•

2,738,460

off she stands
eighth in the list of our customers, ranking
below the United States, Germany, France,
Holland, Egypt, and Turkey; above Italy,
China, and Belgium, and far above Russia

and Spain.

The progress

of the Brazilian revenue
thus be laid dowTi In 1864-5
56,995 928 $000
...

may

:

:

,,1865-6
„ 1866-7
,,

1867-8 not

...
...

less

The estimates
are calculated to
Receipts

:

:

:

813$000
437$000
000 $000

for the fiscal year

be—
.

Expenditure
SuhjIus

58,146
61,469
than 61,535

.

73,000
70,786
2,203

:

000 $000

:

932$000

:

067 $000

1869

:

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
come when

tlie

outlines clrawii

11

by other pens

will

he compared

with mine, which will thus afford a standard whereby the progi'ess
of the country

may be measm'ed.

It

was judged better to place

before the reader certain portions in diary form, not to spare myself

and trouble of " digesting," but to present the simplest
and the most natural picture of travel. The Brazilians, who, hke
most young peoples, have a ravenous and almost femmine appetite
for admiration and tender protestation, will find my narrative rude
and uncompromising. Foreigners here resident, who are generally badly affected to the country,* and who hold it the j)art of
patriotism and a point of honour to support a compatriot against
a native, however the former may blunder or plunder, will charge
me with " Brazilianism " but the impartial will give me credit
the

toil

;

for a smcerity that refuses to flatter or even to exaggerate the gifts

of a region which I prefer to all where

my

travels have hitherto

Thus I may escape the charge freely made against
almost all who have written in favour of the Brazil, nameh', that
of having been "induced," or, to speak plam English, of having
extended.

been bought, t
I have purposely used the word " sketching." My journey
covered more than 2000 miles, of which 1150 miles in round
numbers were by the slow progress of a raft. The time occupied
was only five months, between June 12 and November 12 of 1867
as many years might most profitably be devoted to the Rio Sao
Francisco alone, and even then it would be difficult to produce of it
an exliaustive description. I have, however, been careful to collect
for future travellers, who shall be masters of more time than my
profession allowed me, hearsay accounts of the interesting natural
features, the geological remains, and the rock-inscriptions hitherto
unworked. Koster, in the beginning of the present century, drew
* Like every country struggling for recog-

among the self-reliant nations of the
world, Brazil has to contend with the i)rejudiced reports of a floating foreign popunition

land
they temporarily inhabit, and whose apprelation, indifferent to the welfare of the

mainly influenced by private
is much to be regi'etted that
the Government has not thought it worth
ciations are

interest.

It

while to take decided measiu-es to correct
the erroneous impressions cun'ent abroad
concerning its administration
and that its
diplomatic agents do so little to circulate
truthful and authoritative statements of
;

(Agassiz, Journey
"A Rio de Janeiro
que
Rio
de Janeiro, et
on ne connait guere
Ton meprise un pen trop tout ce qui n'est
pas Rio de Janeiro," says Auguste de Saint
llilaire with great truth,

their domestic concerns. "
in Brazil,

i^p.

515-6).

t This is at present the jjopular way to
dispose of their opinions who think well of
the Brazil.
We find extensive reference to
paid puffers of Brazil, and lackeys of its
Legation, " even in the " Brazil Correspondence, with an Introduction."
London:
Ridgway, 1863.
'

'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

12

attention to these "written rocks" in the bed of the northern
I believe that such antiquities are to be found

Parah^'ba River.
in

many

parts of the north-eastern shoulder of the South Ameri-

can continent, which approaches nearest to the Old World. And
I hope in a futiu'e volume to show distinct " vestiges of some

who possessed the country before the present
(the Tupy family), and of whom not even the most

forgotten people

race of savages

vague tradition has been presen-ed."*
My second volume ends suddenly at the Great Rapids of the

Rio de Sao Francisco instead of placing the traveller at its
mouth. This is perhaps a caprice. But my pen refused to work
upon the petty details of a few leagues of land travel and a mere
steamer trip down stream, whilst my brain was filled with images
Nor would further narrative have been
of beauty and grandeur.
A thousand vacation tourists will learn
of any especial service.
at length that yellow fever in the Empire is not an abiding guest,
that her shores can be reached in ten days from Europe, that no
long sea-voyage is more comfortable or so pleasant, that the
Highlands of the Brazil, which popular ignorance figm'es to be a
swampy flat, are exceptionally healthy, and have been used as
Sanitaria by invalids who had no prospect of life in Europe, and,
lastly, that a short fortnight spent in the country upon a visit to
Barbacena in the I)ro^ince of Minas Geraes, -s-ia the D. Pedro
Segimdo R. R., will offer the finest specimens of the three great
geogi-aphical features of the land, the Beiramar or seaboard, the
SeiTa do Mar, maritime range or Eastern Ghauts, and the Campos,

commonly

They

translated prairies.

will not neglect to visit the

Niagara of the Brazil, and they will find Paulo Affonso, King of
From the
Rapids, more accessible than northern Scotland.
agents of the Bahia Steam Navigation

Company

at S. Salvador

and on the lower Sao Francisco River thej' will meet with every
attention, and at the office they will obtain more general knowledge of the country tlian can be packed into a handbook.

The Appendix

contains a translation of a

Gerber, C.E., describing
of the

Empire

Mmas

of the Southern Cross.

* Southey (Histoiy of Bi-azil, ii. pp. 30,
The laborious author adds, "Rocks
sculptured •n'ith the representations of
animals, of the sun, moon, and stars, with
hieroglyphical signs, and if an incurious
653).

monogram

Geraes, one of the

tj-jiical

b}-

M.

provinces

It is simi)l3' a compila-

Franciscan may be trasted, with characters
have been recently found in Guyana,
the most savage part of South America, and
hitherto the least explored."
also,

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
tion.

But

it

13

forms an excellent base for future labours, and

a good specimen of the stores of local information

it is

now locked up

from the world in the pigeon-holes of BraziHan literature. I
foiled to meet the distinguished author at Ouro Preto, and I am
bound to make an apology for having translated liim without his
express permission.

Were

I here to quote all the names, Brazihan and English, to

which the pleasure and the profit of my journey are due, the list
They have not been ignored in
Avould occupy many a page.
these volumes, and now they shall not be troubled with anythmg
but the heartfelt expression of my liveliest gratitude.
To conclude. The kindly reader will not criticize the smaller
errors of

my

sheets which were not corrected in proof.*

absence from England,

my wife, who travelled

with

me

Dming
through

will take upon herself the work of revision, but the
"
last
coup de peigne " must necessarily be wanting.

Minas Geraes,

NOTE.f
This Essay has extended to an undue length, but it woukl not he complete
without a list of the authors whose names I have used, and a few observations

upon the subject of their labours.
John Mawe the only edition known
:

to

me

is

" Voyages dans l'Int6rieur

du

Bresil en 1809 et 1810, traduits de I'Anglais par J. B. B. Cyrils." J Paris,
Gide fils, libraire, 1816. I have not seen his " Treatise on Diamonds and

Precious Stones, inchiding their History, Natural and Commercial, to which

added some account of the best method of cutting and polishing them."
London, 1813. The Englishman in the Brazil must often meet his
countrymen, if he would meet them at all, in the garb ^of the Gaul. Thus
only have I seen the excellent volumes of I\Ir. Koster, so often quoted by
Southey, and known in the Brazil as Henrique da Costa. The edition is

is

Svo.

* Former travellers have
noticed a
"fatality" attaching to works upon the
subject of the Brazil, the unconscionable
number of errata required Ijy Manoel Ayres
de Cazal, MM. Spix and Martins, Joze
Feliciano Fernandes Pinheiro, Eschwege,
PizaiTO e Araujo, and the first publication

by Saint

Hilaire.

In the following pages the names of
certain authors will recur ^vith unusual
The object of these repeated
frequency.
quotations from what are now "standard
works, " is complimentary, not ci'itical no
one knows more than myself how little my
own errors and shortcomings justify me in
•f"

:

Tliere is a Hakhiyt Society for
republishing with annotations those who
date from a certain number of centuries,
The modems, however, must be read as
they wrote and since the days when they
wrote, many things have been changed. In
due course of time they will all be deemed
worthy of the Hakluyts, and, meanwhile,
notices of their labours will be as valuable
to future students as they are unpleasant
to the reader in the present day.
J This venerable author has merited, by
attracting to her the attention of Europe,
the gratitude of the Brazil,
criticising.

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

14

" Voyages dans la Partie Septentrionale du Bresil, &c., par Henri Koster,
Traduits de I'Anglais par M. A. Jay.
1809 jusqu'en 1815."

depuis

Paris, 1818.*

"

Voyage au

Bresil dans les annees 1815, 1816 et 1817, par S. A. S.

milien, Prince de "\Vied-NeuA\ied
Paris,

made

;

Maxi-

traduit de I'Allemand par J. B. B. Cyrids."

Arthur Bertrand, 1821. " Prince Max." the Lord of Braunberg, has
and his collections were valuable in illustrating the natural

epoque,

history of the Brazil.

M. Auguste de Saint Hilaire visited the Brazil in the siiite of the Due de
Luxembourg, and during the -whole six years between April 1, 1816, and 1822,
he travelled over 2500 leagues. This author is respected by the Brazilians
more than any other he is almost German in point of exactness and painstaking, and tlie only fault to be fomid -with his narrative is its succinctness, an
unusual offence. Of his works eight A'olumes are familiar to me, and I have
fjuoted them under their respective numbers
I, Voyage dans les Provinces de Rio de Janeiro et de Minas Geraes.
Paris, Grimbert et Dorez, 1830.
II. Voyage dans le District des Diamans et sur le Littoral du Bresil.
;

:

Paris, Librairie Gide, 1833.

Voyage aux Sources du Rio de S. Francisco et dans la Pro^Tnce de
Goyaz. Paris, Arthur Bertrand, 1847.
IV. Voyage dans les Provinces de Saint Paul et de Sainte Catherine.

III.

Paris, Arthur Bertrand, 1851.
could not meet Avith his " Flora Brasiliaj Meridionalis," -which -was edited
-with the collaboration of MM. Jussieu and Cambassedes, nor with the " Plantes
Usuelles des Br(5siliens," nor A\ith the " Histoire des Plantes les plas reI

marquables du Bresil et du Paraguay."
The last French author whose travels in the Brazil were of importance is
the Count Francis de Castelnau, who directed the " Expedition dans les Parties
Paris, Bertrand, 1850.
6 vols, in 8vo.
centrales de rAmerique du Sud."
I have often refened to Robert Southey, whose " History of the Brazil " has
been admirably translated into Portuguese by a Brazilian.
The three folios, at present scarce and unpleasantly expensive, amply
desen'e another edition, Anth notes and emendations. This "great undertaking " of the Laureate's " mature manhood " is characterised in his two
valuable volumes by Sr. A. de Vamhagen (Historia Geral do Brazil, ii. 344),
" not so much a historj^ as chronological memoirs, collected from many
authors and A-arious manuscripts, to serve for the lustory of the Brazil, Buenos
Ayres, Monte-s-ideo, Paraguay, &c." f
* It aVjounds in the worst misprints, for

The historical part of
valuable than the portions devoted to general information, and
the concluding chapters are exceedinglj-

the same objection.

work

instance in the first vohime Cava for Card
(Prcf. xxxvii. ), Assogados for Affogados
(12), Poco for Toqo (13), Alsandega for
Alfandega (52), Alqueise or Alque^re for

liis

Alqueire (55 and 219), Jaguadas for Jangadas (93), Cacinebas for Cacimba.s (131),

Southey's History was continued in two
volumes by "John Annitage, Esquire,"
The
Smith & Elder, London, 1836.
author wa.s engaged in commerce at Rio de
Janeiro, but he wrote under high oflScial
information, and his book T^ill ever be most
The English edition and the
interesting.

:

for Homens (214), Andhorina for
Andorinha (232), Guardamare for Guardamor (295), Serra Pequeno for Pequena
(333), and so forth.
t Sr. Vamhagen is open to somewhat

Homems

is

far

le.ss

unsatisfactory.

PRELIMINARY ESSAY.
" Notes on Rio

1.5

and the Sontliern Parts of

tie Jaiieii-o

Brazil, taken

during

a residence of ten years in that country, from 1808 to 1818." By John
Luccock. London, Strand, 1820. These " Notes" belong to the folio days of
travel
Sr.

:

-we

Avonder Avhat a " work" would have been.

Varnhagen

(ii.,

The

laborious historian,

having been able to procure the

481), alludes to his not

volume, hence we may judge how little it is known.
" A History of the Brazil," «S:c., &c.
By James Henderson. London, Longmans, 1821. This is also a folio it is 'rather a compilation than an origmal,
and thus it wants the freshness and utility of its rival.
" Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829." By the Eev. R. Walsh, LL.D.,
The two stout octavos require
M.R.I.A. London, AVestley & Da^ds, 1830.
the author seems to have believed every tale
correction with a liberal hand
invented for liim, and he \'iewed the Empire through the dark glances of
our rabid anti-slavery age, happily now past. He is one of the authors who
according to Saint Hilaire, have materially injiu'ed British prestige in the
;

;

BrazU.
" Travels in the Interior of Brazil."
By George Gardner, F.L.S., Superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Ceylon. London, Reeve, 1846.

This estimable author spent in the Empire the years between 1836 and 1841.
His forte is botany, but he was also a man of general knowledge, who vnote in
a pleasant unassuming style, Avhose geniality is

still

appreciated.*

An immense

mass of information touching the Brazil is to be found in
the official and other documents published at Lisbon, esj^ecially in the
" Collec^ao de Noticias para a Historia e Geograj^hia das Na^oes ultra- marinas
que vivem nos dominios Portuguezes, ou Ihes sao A'isinhas. PubHcada jiela
Academia Real das Sciencias." Lisboa, na Tj'pographia da Mesma Academia
1812.
The seven octavos are read by few but students, and at present the
English public has everything to learn of the truly noble Portuguese literaAs a rule we dislike the language because it is nasal, and we have a

ture.

deep-rooted and most ignorant idea that Portuguese, the most Latin of all the
is a " bastard dialect of Spanish."

neo-Latin tongues,

" Annaes Maritimos e Coloniaes, Publicagao Mensal redigida sob a direcgao
da Associacao Maritima e Colonial." Lisboa, Imjn-ensa Nacional.
Of this
valuable collection many series have been published. I Avas imable to purThe Royal Geographical Society of
chase a copy at the Imprensa Nacional.
London objected to send their volumes beyond the Atlantic, and my debt of
gratitude is to my friend the geographer, Mr. Alexander Findlay, F.R.G.S.f
Portiigiiese translation are

both out of print,

and well merit re-issue, if possible with
notes and amijlifications.
* The object of this note is not to
notice contemporary English authors
Hadfield (1854), HinchliflF (1863), and others.
I cannot refrain, however, from expressing
my admiration of the " Naturalist on the
River Amazons," by Henry "Walter Bates.
"Publishers say
London, ]\Iurraj^, 1863.

—

that our public does not care for Brazil,"
the author once told me his volumes have
certainly given the con-ection to this idea.
1" It may be
deemed curious that no
mention is here made of the
Revista
:

'

'

Triinensal," issued by the Instituto Historico Geograjihico of Rio de Janeiro.
The
publication is so carelessly sujiplied that it
is well uigh useless.
The libran' attached

the Faculty of Sao Paulo, one of the
nearest approaches to a Brazilian universitjhas no complete copy, four years' numbers
are wanting, and since 1866 no copies have
been forwarded.
As regards the Institute
to

itself

tion

;

I

can personally afford no informaduring my frequent visits to Rio

de Janeiro the honour of an invitation
to attend its meetings v.as never extended
to me.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

16

A

ponderous but valuable work (which an index Avould make ten times
useful), in 9 volumes, is the " Memorias Ilistoricas do Rio de Janeiro e
das Provincias Annexas h JurisdicQao do Vice-rei do Estado do Brazil," por
(Monsenhor) Joze de Souza Azevedo Pizarro e Araujo.
Rio de Janeiro,
ImpressSo Nacional, 1822. Another is the Corographia Brazilica of (the Abb^)
Manoel Ajtcs de Casal, the " dozen" of Brazilian geographers. The book
(printed in 1817) is well known, not so the author his birth-place has never
been discovered, and the only detail of his career which came to light is that
he returned with the Court to Portugal and there died. He is now, despite of
a few inaccuracies, one of the classics. Of purely geographical compilations
we have the " Diccionario Geographico Historico e Descriptive do Imperio do
Brazil."
Por J. C. R. Millet de Saint Adolphe. Paris, Ailland, 1845. This
work, in two volumes, is a mere compilation and is exceedingly incorrect.
AVorks of local use are

more

:

"Memorias

sobre as Minas de Minas Geraes, escripta

cm

1801, polo

Dr.

This excellent little book, which is philosophical, unprejudiced, and not witliout eloquent and picturesque descriptions, was republished
by MM. Laemmert & Co., Rio de Janeiro, 1842.
It will frequently be
Jose Vieira Couto."

referred to in the folloAving pages.

" Viagem Mineralogica na Provincia de S. Paulo," por Jose Bonifacio de
Andrada e Silva, e Martim Francisco Ribeiro de Andrada. I am unable to give
the date, as my copy Avants the title page, and none of the Andrada family
could supply the information. It has been translated into French by the
Councillor Antonio de Menezes Drnmmond, and it was publislied in the

" Journal des Voyages."
" Historia do Movimento Politico que no Anno de 1842, teve lugar na ProThe first
vincia de Minas Geraes." Pelo Conego Jose Antonio Marinho.
volume was published 1iy J. E. S. Cabral, Rio de Janeiro, Rua do Hospicei,
No. 66, in 1844 the second in the same year by J. Villeneuve e Comp'",
Rua do Ouvidor, No. 65. " Padre Marinho " was a red-Iiot Lusia or Liberal ; he
;

was however much esteemed, and

after the Revolutionary

movement was

crushed, he lived out the rest of his daj's, taking an active part in public

There is also a Chronological History of the affair
affairs, at Rio de Janeiro.
taken from the opposite stand-point, and published under the auspices, it is
said, of the President of Minas Geraes, Bernardo Jacintho da Veiga.
" Informaoao ou DescriiJ^ao topographica e politica do Rio de S. Francisco,"
pelo Coronel Ignacio Accioli de Cen^ueira e Silva. Rit) de Janeiro. Typographia
Franceza de Frederico Arverson, Largo da Carioca, 1860. Colonel Accioli has
laboured hard and well in the
"

Almanak

field of local Brazilian literature.

AdTuuiistrativo, Civil e Industrial da Provincia de

Minas Geraes,

para o anno de 1864," organisado e redigido por A. de Assis Martins e T.
Marquez de Oliveira. 1° anno. Rio de Janeiro, Typographia da Actualidade.
2nd volume appeared at Ouro Preto, Typographia do Minas Geraes, 1864 (for
the year 1865).
I had hoped to see a 3rd in 1868, but it has not yet been

A

issued.

" Rapport partiel sur le

Haut San

Francisco, ou Description topographique et

de Minas Geraes comprises dans le
du Haut San Francisco, precedt-e de quelques aper9us generaux sur la
meme Province," par Eduardo Jose de Moraes, Lieutenant du Genie de I'Armee
statistique des parties de la Province

bassin

Bresilienne.

Paris, Parent, 1866.

Its object is a canal.

— —

—
PRELIMINARY ESSAY.

—
17

Tupy or Lingua Geral,'* a suliject now so deeply interesting
from whose settled portions the " Indian" element is so rapidly
disajipearing, I have used the
" Grammatica da Lingua Geral dos Indios do Brasil, reimpressa jjela
primeira vez neste continente depois de tao longo tempo de sua publica9ao em
LisLoa," por Joao Joaquim da Silva Guimaraes.' Bahia, Typograpliia de Manoel
As

regards the

in the Brazil,

Feliciano Sepulveda, 1851.
" Diccionario da Lingua Tuj'jy

chamada Lingua Geral dos Indigenas do
Gonial ves Dias. Lipsia, F. A. Brockhaus, 1858. The author was a
a traveller, and a poet, and his early death cast a gloom over his

Brazil," jDor A.
linguist,

native land.
" Chrestomathia da Lingua Brazilica," pelo

Dr.

Ernesto Fineii'a Franca,

Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1859.

A

useful handbook to those studying the Flora of the Empire is the
" Systema de Materia Medica Vegetal Brasileira, etc., etc., extrahida a traduzida das Obras de Car. Fred. Phil, de Martins," jdcIo

Desembargador Henrique
Rio de Janeiro, Laemmert, 1854. It is something more
than a translation of the Latin volume,t published by the learned Bavarian.
Upon the Rio de Sao Francisco I was accompanied by the
" Relatorio concernente d Exploracao do Rio de Sao Francisco desde a
Cachoeira da Pirapora ate o Oceano Atlantico, durante os Annos de 1852, 1853, e
1854," pelo Engenheiro Henrique Guilherme Fernando Halfeld. Impresso por
ordem do Governo Imperial. Rio de Janeiro Typographia Moderna de
Georges Bertrand, Rua da Ajuda, 73. This small thin folio is of convenient
travelling dimensions.
Not so the enormous and costly
" Atlas e Relatorio concernente a Exploragao do Rio de S. Francisco desde a
Cachoeira da Pirapora ate o Oceano Atlantico, levantado por ordem do Govemo
de S. M. 1. Senhor Dom Pedro II.," pelo Engenheiro Civil Henrique Guilherme
Fernando Halfeld em 1852, 1853, e 1854, e mandado lithographar na lithographia Imperial de Eduardo Rensburg. Rio de Janeiro, 1860. The plans do
honour to lithography in the Brazil. His Imperial Majesty, an Honorary Meml)er of the Royal Geographical Society of London, was pleased to forward, in
18(55, a cojjy of this huge folio to our library.
For the Rio das Velhas I had provided myself with a' copy of the
" Hj'drographie du Haut San Francisco, et du Rio das Velhas, resultats au
point de vue hydrographique d'un Voyage effectue dans la Province de Minas
Geraes, par Emm. Liais. Ouvrage publie jjar ordre du Gouvernement Imperial
du Bresil, et accompagne de Cartes levees par I'auteur, avec la collaboration de
MM. Eduardo Jose de Moraes et Ladislao de Sonza Mello Netto." Paris et
Rio Janeiro, 1865. This is a work having authority, and the style of the folio
is worthy of its matter.
M. Liais tells its in his Preface (p. 2) that he has " collected numerous
documents upon a crowd of other than hydrographical questions, and has
Velloso d'Oliveira.

:

* Tlie fii-st publication upon tlie subject
was the " Arte da Grammatica da lingua
mais usada na Costa do Brazil," by the

venerable Anchieta, published at Coimbra,
1595, and now of extreme i-arity.
The Jesuit Padre Luis Figueira also
printed an
Arte da Grammatica da
'

'

Lingua Brasilica," Lisbon, 1687.
I have
a copy of the 4th edition, Lisbon, 1795.
t " Systema Materia Medica; Vegetalis
Brasiliensis Composuit, " Car. Frid. Phil.
dc Martins. Lipsice, apud Frid. Fleischer,
1813.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

18

conscientiously studied the

soil,

the nimes, the cdiniate,

the

natural

pro-

and the statistics of the country." These he promises
But besides five otlier
to issue with his Atlas, but in a more portable form.
Memoires upon various scientific subjects,* he has yet published, I believe,
only " L'Espace Celeste,"t which contains notices of his travels and labours in
the Empire.
ductions, the agriculture,

******

This list of studies is not imposing. It would, however, have been even less
so, but for the imwearied kindness of my excellent fi-iend Dr. Jose Innocencio
de Moraes Vieira, Librarian to the Faculty of Law (Faculdade de Direito) in
the City of Sao Paulo.
1, "De I'Emploi des ObAzimutales pour la Determination de.s Ascensions cU-oites," &c.
2,
" Theorie des Oscillations du Barometre "
"De
chaufie
comme
I'Emploi de I'Air
3,
force motrice "
4, " De I'lnfluence de la
Jler sur les Climats "
and (promised in
1865) 5, "La Continuation des Explorations scientifiqtics au Brcsil.

+ Emm.

* These are,

servations

;

;

;

;

Liai.s,

Astronome de roinserva-

toire Imperial de Paris.

" L'Espace

Celeste
Description jihyobservations
sique de I'Univers, d'aprfcs des
personnclles faites dans les deux liemisplidi'es." Preface de M. Rubinct, dcsseins
de Yan' Dargcut.
Paris, Garnicr Brothers
(no d.atc).

et

la

Nature

tropicale,

—

"

CHAPTER
"WE

"Rieu an moude

ii'esfc

I.

LEAVE RIO DE JANEIRO.

aussi beau, peut-6tre,

que

les

envirou3

cle

Rio

cle

Janeiro."

St. Hilaire.

I AM about to describe in this volume a holiday excursion
which we made to the Gold Mmes of Central Minas Geraes via
Petropolis, Barbacena, and the Praii'ies and Highlands of the
Brazil.
a
Our journey has a something of general interest
few years it will have its Handbook and form a section of the
Nineteenth Century " Grand Tour." And I venture to predict
that many of those now Hving -oill be Avhiided over the land at
hurricane speed, covering sixty miles per hour, Avliere our painful
" pede-locomotion " wasted nearly a week.
Perhaps they may
;

Queui sahe

fly

My

m

?

project was, then, to visit the head-waters of the Pio de

Sao Francisco, the mighty river here trivially called the Brazilian
Mississippi, and to float down its whole length, ending b}^ way of
bonne houche with the King of Papids, Paulo Affonso. In this
second act of travel, wdiich is not a hoKday excursion, the
diamond diggmgs were to be inspected.
After eighteen dull months spent at Santos, Sao Paulo, I was
graciously allowed leave of absence by the Right Honourable the

Lord Stanley, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs. By command of His Majesty the Emperor of
Podoroshna, or
the Brazil, I was supplied with a " Portaria"*
especial licence to travel; it bore the signature of His Excel-

—

lency the late Councillor Antonio Coelho de Sa e Albuquerque,

Minister for Foreign
of

December

7,

Aflfaii'S,

a

name immortalised by

* In former times the Portaria dispensed
tlie

traveller with pajang

other small charges.

the decrees

1866, and July 31, 1867, which admitted the

I

femes,

tolls,

and

did not attempt

such

trifling

economy, and can hardly say
" dead head-

^\-hether it is still useful for
ing.

THE HK;HLA^"L)8 OF THE

20

IJKAZIL.

[<

hap.

i.

and which reguhited the inhmd navigation of the Brazil.
of Agriculture and Public Works, His Excellency
the Councillor Manoel Pinto de Souza Dantas, who took the
liveHest interest in the journey, honoured me Avith a cu-cular
world

to,

The Minister

letter addressed

where he had

to the

authorities of his owai Province, Bahia,

been President, and where his wishes were
law.
Finally, the eminent Dex^uty of Alagoas, Dr. AureHano
Candido Tavares Bastos, Jun., whose patriotic enthusiasm for
progi-ess has so urgently advocated the freeing of the coasting
lately

trade and the opening of great fluAdal lines,* kindly gave

me

a

variety of introductory letters.

—that

Under such auspices Ave
Ego with a negret

—

inevitable

is

to say,

ansAvering to the

my

Avife

name

and the

of Chico or

Frank, after exliausting the excitements of the " Ilio Season,"
that charming but someAvhat droAVsy, dreamy, and do-little

left

Capital on the fortunate Ember-day, Wednesday, June 12, 1867.
Affectionate acquaintances bade us sad adieux, prognosticating

every misery from tick-bites to kniving.
What Dr. Couto calls
the " old system of terrors " is not yet obsolete, and I Avas looked

upon as a murderer in X)Osse, because Mrs. Burton chose to
accompany me. A " synthesis of cognate habits " induced Mr.
George Lennon Hunt to see us embark, and he Avas not alone,
for there are " good children " even amongst the John Bull-lings
of the Brazil.

" Rio Bay," like all the beautiful sisterhood, from Cornish
" Mullions " AvestAvard to the Bay of Naples, must be seen
in " Avar-pamt."
Most charming is she when sitting under her
rich ethereal canopy, Avhilst a varnish of diaphanous atmosphere

tempers the distance to soft and exquisite loveliness when the
robing blue is perfect brilliant blue, Avhen the broAvns are dashed
AA'itli pink and purple,
and Avhen the national colours suggest
;

themselves

:

green, A'ivid as the emerald, and yelloAV, bright as

bm-nished gold.

Then

the streams are silver, then the seam's

marked orange and vermilion as they stand straightly out from
the snowy sand or the embedding forest, then the passing clouds
are

form floating islets as theii' shadows Avalk over the waters of the
inner sea, so purely green.
Then the peasant's whitewashed hut
of tile and " Avattle and dab," rising from the strand of snoAvy
* His book, *'
Yalle do Amazonas " (Rio de Janeiro, B. L. Gamier, 1866),
valuable statistical study of the River, and amply deserves translation.

is

a

CHAP.

WE LEAVE

I.]

RIO DE JANEIRO.

21

sand, becomes opal and garnet in the floods of light wliieh suggest
nothing but a i3erpetual springtide. And every hour has its own
sj^ell.

There

is

sublimity in the morning mists rolling far away

over headland brow and heaving ocean

there

;

is

grandeur, love-

and splendour in the sparkling of the waves under the
noon-day sun, when the breeze is laden with the perfume of a
thousand flowers
and there is inexpressible repose and grace
liness,

;

which evening sheds over the same.
and fairy-like, this singular feminine
beauty of complexion, a power and a majesty born of the size
and the abrupt grandeur of mountain and peak, of precipice and
rock, which would strike the mind of Staffa, and which forbid
any suspicion of efleminacy.
Such effects of Nature, at once
masculine and womanly, alternately soft and stern, necessarily
in the shades of vinous purple

Combine with

affect the

this

soft

The

national character.

old sneer that the family of

Uncle Sam must not hold itself to be a great people because
Niagara is a great cataract, contains even less truth than such
sneers usually contain.
The " Aspects of Nature " are now
recognized influences upon the ideality and the intellect of man.
*'
Onde ha o grande e o hello," says Sr. Castilho, with eminent
l)oetic instinct,

the

little

" apparece logo a poesia;* and now even we of
own that " size becomes in the long run

island readily

a measure of political power."
visible

the "

form of the Good

Land

of

As

?

Dye-wood

"

And

not the Beautiful the

is

these pages will prove, travel in

resembles travel in no other land.

an amenity of aspect which the sons of the
rugged North see for the first occasion, and which they must
never expect to see again.
At the same time we shall find
amongst the people pronounced traits of character, and an almost
It has a gentleness,

savage energy, which show bone as well as smoothness of skin.
There are, however, times and seasons when Eio Bay, the

Charmer, bears a stormy dangerous brow, upon which it is not
good to look. Again there are days, especially in early winter
from May to June,t when her frowns melt into smiles, and when
*

" Where the Grand and the Beautiful

Poet soon appears." This
pai-t of the Brazil i.s a just middle between
those physical extremes which over-stimulate or which depress the imagination.
f The Europeanized seasons in this part
of the Brazil, as "adapted to the Southern
Hemisphere, are the normal four (the Aryan
division being originally three, Winter,
exist, there the

—

1. Spring,
and Summer), viz.:
Summer,
September 22
2.
Autumn, March 20
December 21
3.
and 4. Winter, June 21. The Guarany
"Indians," or indigenes, more sensibly
divided the year into two halves, "Coaracyara," sun-season, and "Almana-ara," rainseason.
They are the divisions which we
recognize now," says Sr. Jose de Aleucar iu

Spring,

beginning

;

;

'

'

;

—
THE HIGH LANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

22

Of such

tears follow her laughter.

the Emher-da}',

m

sort

[chap.

i.

was that Wednesday,
it came hard upon

the year of grace 1867;

a terrible shipwrecking gale.

Rio de Janeii'o, the "very lo^-al and heroic city," viewed from
the quarter and station of the " Prainha," alias " Maud's "Wharf,"
does remind eye, nose, and ear of certain sites on the

which shaU be nameless.

You make

You

Thames

hustle through a crowd of blacks.

under a barrel roof of corrugated and
coffee sacks, whose beans,
scattered over the floor, show that the ruthless "piercer"*
lias plunged in his scoop, withdrawn his sample, and stocked
his home with plundered caffeine.
Near the coarse i)ier of
creakmg planks lie swamped canoes and floating boats, a red
di'edging craft, simdry little black steamers, a crowd of loading
shij)s, and a scatter of crippled hulks
a dead dog floats lazilj'
the

galvanized

little

iron,

jetty

between piles of

;

past us, the smoke of Dover

stifles us,

hammers

the clang of

has power to agaccr our nerves, and we acknowledge the savour
of that old Father who once harboured Le Brut of Troy.
But
here the picturesque " Moito da Saude " the Hill of Health

—

sits

by the shore clad in Tanga

kii'tle

of grass and tree, whilst

close behind, towering high in air, the gigantic detached block

culminating in " Tijuca Pealv,"

monarch of moimtains he

To

overlooks

the

like the

scene

is.

the south-east are the yellow-ochre buildings of the Marine

Arsenal, long and low, and Ijisbon-like, witli windows jcalousl}'
barred.

The surroundings

are a tall red slii)-slied, a taller black-

shed, fronted by a big, antiquated, and green-painted craiia| piles
of coke and coal, rusty ginis, and old tanks and

the ground

mob

;

in front floats a ship newly

of smaller craft are

made to hug

born

with

its

life,

and a

their great mother, the shore.

But, agam, the upper part of this jiicture
l^ile,

boilen^umber

to ocean

is Silo

Bento's stern old

massive square front of monastery pitted and dented

hy the cannon-balls of the stout French corsair,! with its pj-ramidcapped belfries, whose weathercocks have been weathered dowai to
spikes, and with its gardens of rich sward and luxuriant banana
stretching far away in our rear.
his admiraLle romance,

Guarany,

vol.

i.

3C1, " and the only seasons which really
exist in the Brazil. "
Moreover it may be
said that Rio de Janeiro, the citj', placed
in the interval between the Trades and the
Variable willll^^, li;is no rej.nibr "dries"

or "rains," a result also brought about of
by extensive cultivation and dis-

late years

foresting.

*
furador, the " sampler " the word
wants, methinks, a letter.
fDiiguay-Trouin,wlio bombarded it in 1711.
:

"

cn.vp.

WE LEAVE

I.]

And now the

little

RIO DE JANEIRO.

steamer "Petropolis"

" Snake Island," a

— 1825.

under way, making-

"open boat"*

nine knots per hour, very unlike the
the travellers of 1808

is

23

affected

by

AYe rush past the Ilha das Cobras,

little lieaj)

of green slo^^e and granite scarp,

with bran-new docks and ancient lines of fortalice and building,
all ochre-tmted,
past the shipping
to show public property
;

channel,

all

hull and mast

to have cost £300,000,

four

;

past the big red Custom-house, said

and already showing a graceful sag of some

mches m the centre

;

past the low, solid buildings, not without

the usual steeple, on the Illia das Enxadas, or " Isle of Hoes,"
to the Briton as the " Coal Island,"

which was sold for a
pounds sterling past the
distance-dwarfed eastern wall of the Bay, m the upper part broken
hills, by contrast liiUocks, and below a town and outlying villages,

known

song, and which is

with houses and

now worth

villas, forts

a mint of

;

and churches

;

past the

''

Island of

the Governor" (Salvador Correa de Sa), very properly called in
the Enghsh " Long Island," from its length of twenty-eight miles,

where the ant-eaterf having been eaten out, the ant eats out the
former past Paqueta, of old " Pacata," shaped like a figure of 8
that " lovely insular gem," shady with mangos and cashews,
;

—

and myrtles, and the olive-lilce Camara,t the coquette called the
Capri of Bio classical, charmmg, and happily without a Tiberius;
past the bight of Mage, which deluded the first discoverers into
misnaming this little Mediterranean "Biver of January," and

—

which caused their descendants to miscall themselves Fluminenses,
or People of the Biver § past slabs of rock, each growing its one
or two bunches of vigorous verdure, fruit of that mighty coition
past ej^ots of dull white
of equinoctial sun and tropical rain
granite boulders, the blocs perches and roches moutonnees of
;

;

l)e

Saussure

("Verily,"

exclaims

* "Falua.

+

Especially

tlie

species called

Tamandua

Taixi-monde, ant-trap) Mirim, or
ant-eater (Myi-mecophaga tetradactyla), as opposed to the greater ant-eater,
Tamandua Cavallo or bandeira (Myrmeco{i.e.,

little

a

friend,

"its

name

is

Anthropologists are advised to visit Long
It contains kitchen-middens of
oy.ster
and other shells locally called
Island.

" Sambaquis, " and is rich in aboriginal
and stone celts.
J A Lantana, one of the Verbenaceae, a

skulls

phaga jubata, Linn.). The often recurring
word miry, merem or mirim (Portuguese

common

inha sinho, etc. ), a terminal borinlio
rowed from the Tupy-Gruarany tongue,
means small, lesser, least, opposed to osu,
asii, wasu, guasu, ussu (it varies according to the syllable preceding it), magnus,
The latter corresponds
major, maximus.
with the termination ao in Portuguese.

§ Hence we still read in French and
English " Gazetteers, " and " Compendiums

—

—

—

wild tree in the

j^rairies

of the

Brazil.

of Geography," "Rio de Janeiro, or Rio
de Janario, on the Rio River;" "Rio de
Janeiro, situee h. I'embouchure du flouve
du meme nom. " (Dictiounaire de la Conversation, F. Didot, Paris, 1857.)

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

24

boulder

!

")

— some the

size of a bouse,

[chap.

i.

rounded and water-rolled,

otbers acutangular, and brought on thin ice -rafts and floes by the
Glacial Theory from yon towering range of Swiss physiognomy.

We

look behind us, and the glance plunges into the open sea
through the portals of the Colossal Gate, sentinelled by an ami}'
of peaks.
We look in front at a northern wall, the Serra do Mar,
or Sea Range to the north-east rise the Organ Mountains proper,
;

with

theii'

four sharp needles of darker blue, silhouetted against

the undefined yapoury background, and resembling anything but

organ-pipes;* due north

is

the Star Range,t where a break and

knob of rock, the usual Cabeca de Frade, or " Friar's Head,"
mark the natural zigzag taken by the road while to the northAyest the pjTamidal and sharpl}' outlined peaks of the Serra de
Tingua prolong the mighty curtain in the direction of SHo Paulo.
And now, eleyen miles dul}^ left behind, we dash towards a sprinkling of huts and a low line of mangroye, backed by the sub-range,
heaps of dark green hill shagg}' with second growth, and not
a

;

unfrequentl}' topi)ed by a white church.
This is the " INIaua
Landing Place," and here ends Act No. 1 of to-day's travel

drama.
Before we tread the shaky, creaky,

we may

little

plank-jetty leading to

remark that Maua Bay
and Paqueta Island supply Rio with the best oysters. Bad, how-

the railway carriages,

eyer, are

* I
called

may

now

the best.

suggcbt that

the

incidentally

The Riyerines
discoverers

them Serra dos OrgaOs from the huge

arboreus, in Spanish
Organo) which abounds in these mountains.
As regards the altitude a jjopular error
makes the Organ Mountains never to exceed 1300 metres.
Professor Agassiz (A
Journey in Brazil, chap. 2) tells us that
the highest summits of the Organ Mountains range only from 2000 to 3000 feet,
and in chap. 15, quoting M. Liais, who
makes the maximum altitude observed by
him 7000 feet, he ignores Gardner, who
foimd a still greater height.
According
to Captain Bulhoes the Alto da Serra is
883 -21 metres, the road in front of the
palace at Petropolis 812, and the Peak of
Tingua upwards of 2000.
The Tijuca is
1050, and the Corcovado 661 metres.
+ The Sena da Estrella is probably so
called from the beautiful highlands of Central Portugal. It is part of the Serra do jMar
or Maritime Range, which here corresponds
with the AUeghanics, or Appalachian range
tree cactus (Cactus

should, like their northern

of the northern continent.
The chain begins in tlie north of Espirito Santo (S. hit.

—

1C°
17°), where it continues the Serra dos
Aj-mores, and thence it runs some 150
miles from E. N. E. to \V.S.W.
It is a
barrier cutting off the hot, damp, and

maritime lowlands of the
and healthy
highlands of the interior, and though only
a score of miles from the capital it is still
in a state of nature.
fever-haunted

coast or Beiramar, from the dry

Estrella,

the

port

at

the

the
place
and bustle during the
first quarter of the present centui-y
all
the imports and exports of the Far West
passed through it, and large covered boats

and north of
of great consequence
range,

foot

of

"Mau;i,"was a

:

with

bottoms connected it with the
was then
" Diifertum nauti.s, cauponibus atque
flat

It

cai)ital.

malignis.

Now

it

obtained
ruined.

has i)assed tlirough the court, has
its

discharge,

aud

is

hopelessly

CHAP.

WE LEAVE

I.]

EIO DE JANEIRO.

25

brethren of Californian San Francisco, send for spat or ojsterseecl to New York, or, better still, to Baltimore.
mollusk might meanwhile be greatly improved by

The

aboriginal

scientific ostrei-

Bed the bivalves for six months where there is no
seaward current, but where the rising tide mixes salt water with
culture.

There must be

fresh.

being carried away and

artificial

collectors to prevent the

and which

spat

and
Feed them for the
last fortnight Avith "farinha"* or other flour.
So shall you see
the long, thick, black beard give way to delicate meat, and the
thin angular flatness become plump and rounded.
Here begins Act No. 2. The Maua Eailwa}-, upon which the
expense of removing

engine

lost,

it

to another

whistled in the Brazil,!

first

will save the trouble

place.

a very small chapter in

is

that latest and best Euangelion which began, one year before the
Brazil was born, Avitli the fii'st " Stockton and Darhngton Rail-

way Act," April
had a mighty
ojiened

it,

he

is

Like other

19, 1821.

soul.

little

things,

At the Fete of Industry, when

said to have exclaimed, "

A

its

"Maua"
godfather

Barra do Rio das

{E)i route to the valley of the Sao Francisco River.)
But unhappily double the sum authorised £*G0,000, instead of
i'30,000 was expended upon a road, not a railroad, and the

Yellias."

—

—

l)rophecy has

still

to fulfil itself.

The engine pulls us
gully, wmding through
a

flat,

all

slowly, feebly

a strip of the Pontine Marshes

mud and

up a

the lowest sub-range.

—a

valley,

or rather a

Then we come

to

true crocodile country,

mangrove, miasma and mosquitos, watery even during

the driest weather, and in places sandy and sterile.
Ai-ound the
smgle station, " Inhomirim," the land bristles Avith the Piri-piid,
or Brazilian papyrus,! tall and tufty as that of Sicihan Anapas, or
*

When

farinlia,

"the

flour

pcir

excel-

mentioned, the readerwill understand that it is the "wood-meal" (farinha
de pao), of the Euphorbiaceous " Manihot
utilissima " (not " Jatropha Manihot"),
the black or poisonous manioc. The French
colonies call it Cassave, hence our Cassava,
er Cassada.
I will not describe the preparation, this has been done by a century of
lence,"

is

travellers.

t In the Esbogo Historico das Estradas
de Ferro do Brazil (por C. B. Ottoni. Rio:
1866) we are told that the
contract was made on April 27, 1S52
the
trains began to run over the whole line in
December, 1854; the rules and regulations
A'illeneuve,

;

arraugedfor the Company on December 23,
lS55,and the total cost was 1,743:764$121
(£174,300), or 105 683 | 000 per kilometre (£10,508).
t " Piri-piri " resembles " papjTus " in
sound, but the likeness is superficial.
Piri
is the common rush, and 2^ii'i-piri (rush:

rush) is the largest species.
The Tupy
language delights in the onomatopoetic or
the "ding-dong," "bow-wow," or " ca^-

mag," and

like many other barbarous
expresses augmentation and
magnitude by reduplication. Thus mure
is a flute; mure-mure a large flute.
Ara is
a itarroquet
ara ara, contracted to arara,
(big parroquet), a macaw.
As remarked

tongues

it

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2G

as the produce of the "NVhydah higoon.

the

and

soil,

it

[ni-vr.

shows the saltness of

It

The

has never yet made paper.

girding

liills

are

On

our

dull green with poor second growth,
left

i.

fit only for hedges.
runs the " Estrella Road," and here and there a few palms

and plantains, or a

tall

settler is

not

air, and
show that the squatter or

myrtle, brown with breathing bad

clad in rags of gi'ey Tillandsia moss,

As we approach

fiir oft".

the maritime mountains

there are rich fields and clearings for cattle,

all

the work of the

and made despite the deadly swamp-fevers. After
eleven miles or more, exactly 16'5 kilometres, we reach the Root
Here we strangers stare wonder-stricken at the
of the Range.
colossal amphitheatre of "Eastern Ghauts" that fronts us, with
shaggy wall forested to its coping, with tremendous flying buttresses shot forth frt)m the main mass, and with slides of bare
How we
granite, fiimous INIontagnes Russes for Titans at play.

last

two

ai-e

to get

3'ears,

up

is

a mysteiy,

till

our courier, the indefatigable

George F. Land, a Britisher withal, points from the flat to a kind
of gap on the right, the path of a superficial torrential drain
which feeds the

rivulet

gigantic inverted arch,

Inhomirim.*

It is tlie key-stone of the

up which the admiiable road constructed

by Government painfully winds.
Now opens Act No. 3 the gem of the piece. Our well-packed
carriage is drawn by four mules; thorough-bred horses could not

—

Up we

stand such woik.

:

;

man may

of

go, blessing the projectors

and parapetted Macadam:! it
10.
windings
the gi'adient is 1
with prodigious
smooth, gutter-lined,

a

is

this

Simplon

In places a

address his friend in the third zigzag above or below

a pedestrian who takes the old mule-track will reach
mountam crest before the coach, which galloj)S over nearly
Up we go under giants of the virgin
the whole new way.
forest, tall and slender as the race of man in these regions,

him

;

and

the

all

struggling with fierce energy, like the victuns of the Black

M. Ga>tling the trick
thc ancient languages.
liy

(pro

nopifi]pfos)

doublings of

irvp,

is

found in most of

He

cites -nvpipvpeos

and irop(pvpa, wliidi are
and our modem pa-pa

and

bon-l)on.
* Piz.aiTo makes Inhomirim to
comii)tiou of Anhum-mirim, "the

be a
little

field," and Mawe, a poor linguist, degrades
The stream is also
it to "Moremim."
called from the port near its mouth, "Rio
da Estrella," and the boats of bygone days
the
]ilied up it towards the mountains
:

torrent of

the

siilered

licad waters?.

its

may be

zigzag valley

" Fragoso

Some

conthe
(the

call it

"

River
but Fragoso
rugged) is tlic name of an estate upon
banks, still preserved l>y the single
its
small station two kilometres from the Serra
;

foot.

— 1816,

+ Tlie travellers of 1808
tion the broad "cal9ada," or
Estrella,

but

it

original of the

was doubtless a

modem

men-

paved way of

edition.

vcrj- i-ude

—

CHAP.

WE LEAVE

I.]

Hole, for

life,

which

EIO DE JAXEir.O.

sun and

is

air,

27

each bearing the "strange

device Excelsior" (not Excelsius), and each forming

hut not siccus,

hortus,

a

a conservatory,

a

when

botanical

—

old

garden

of au'-plants and parasites
along .perpendicular cuttings of
hard red clay based on blue gneiss, and mossed over with

vegetation

Germans here grumble

that weeds
grow everwhere when grass will not) below dank overhanging boulders, and past Trogiodytic abodes, whose dripping
approaches are curtained and fringed with a loveh' pendent vegedelicate

(the

—

tation

fern,

of ribbon-lilce

the

maiden-hair or " feather-leaf"

contrasting with the gaunt brake,

Everywhere

feet tall.*

five

the soft rush and plash, and the silver}^ tinkle and
falling water,

make music

of

Sea-range of the Brazil, ever ready to

ever present in the

is

murmur

This beautiful abundance

in our ears.

Up we go, gradually relieved from
quench the traveller's thirst.
undue atmospheric pressure, the air waxing tliinner and more
ethereal, and a corresponding lightness of spii'its developing
The white road glistens in the sun as if powdered with
itself.
silver, and fragments of crystallized quartz suggest diamonds to
At every turn there is a noble view of the
the Northern eye.
happily,
in this rainiest of spots,! we have a fine
and
lowlands,
Usually in the mornings, thick white vapours

evening.

the waters of a lake, or rise in

smoky wreaths from

the foliage offers no mechanical obstruction.
*

A

pest

of

Sainambaia
caudata).
III.

i.

tainly

Brazil,

I

locally

dichotoma

do not know

why

oi-

St.

called

1819—21.

found.s this fern

Hilaire

(Travels

t On a

:

in

South

Amei'ica,

Umbauba
xxix.

),

London, lEurray, 182.5) conwith the Umbahuba or

(Cecropia

"the

to frequent."

—December,

Months.

1867

:

peltata,

see

chap.

which the sloths love
Gardner (p. 478) makes no

tree

such mistake.

similar formation in the province of Sao Paulo

January

Hke

In the afternoon,

Pteri.s

Camambaia this is cerMr.
not the modern orthography.
13, wi-ites

Caldcleiigh

for

the

(^Vlertensia

lie

spots Avhere

we have

the following results

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

2S

[chap.

cold mountain mists, dense as cliauldron-fumes, cling to the

down

course

and

clefts

i.

cliffs,

the mighty sides, seethe up from the deep shaggy

and,

valleys,

as

swift

sounding wind, scud and whiid

racers urged

over

the

by the hollow-

dark and

lowering

you would think it a foamy ocean rushing to flood
the world.
Again about sunset, when the southern bay lies in
all its glory, the Serra is often drenched by a sharp pitiless

hill-tops:

rainfall.

The

noblest panorama

Alto da Serra, the summit of

is at tlie

the Pass, some two thousand nine hundred feet above sea-level,*
especially

and

when

c()r})uscule.

a late shower has waslied the air of mote, spore,

Here you

stand, enchanted by the glories of the

monstrous "invert," whose abutments are on the riglit or west a gigantic cone of naked granite
to the left is a mountain shoulder clothed with dense forest, and
cai)ped with one of those curious knobs of bare rock,t gneiss,
porphyry, or greenstone, so common in this Sea-Kange. Between
view.

Tlie picture

is

set in a

:

them, seen almost in bird's-eye view,
proi)ortions

it

:

is

a study for the perspectivist.
slope of mountain

is llio

best described by

The

upon wdiose

its

first is

crest Ave

Bay, reduced to tiny

distances,

which form

the jagged and gaslied
are,

with

valle3's

ravines hundreds of feet deep, and densely wooded, as

if

and

fresh

from the Flood.
It falls sharp and sudden upon the second,
the Beiramar, t or maritime plain, chequered with bright green
l)atches of field and marsh, and studded with hills like moleearth, tunudous in shape
the Railway, springing from the red
and black station, extends its straight and angular lines over the
:

and abuts on the edge of the Bay. Possibly we see tlie
steam streaming and tossing in
its wake
no unpicturesque object at this distance is the final
destroyer of moribund feudalism.
The thii'd is the silvery
surface,

train, with its long white jilume of

—
of

surface
* I dill

placid

not measure

inland sea, broken
it.

St.

Ilil.

II.

11, assigns to the Pass in the Serra up
which he travelled an altitude of 1099 "55
i.

metres

=

3(307 feet.

732 '80 metres

=

2405

He makes

Petropolis

feet above sea level.

As has been

before shown, Captain Bulhoes
gives a lesser height to the Pass, and a
greater altitude to Petropolis.

t This is the " Cabeva de Frade " before
alluded to.
Tlu-oughout the P.razil it is
the popidar name for these naked knobs.

and

b}'

the

dark length of

it duulttlcbs dates from the days wlien
the bare-footed shavelings were giants in
the land.
There are also several " Rios do
Frade, " in which Franciscan and other
missionaries have been drowned.
J Also called Sen-a Bai.xa, opposed to
Serra Acima, the Highlands of the Brazil,
Tlie word corresponds with the Italian
Maremma, the flats along the Mediterranean from Leghorn to Amalfi.

CHAP.

WE LEAVE

I.]

Governor's Island,

RIO

JANEIRO.

1)E

29

fronting bright Paqueta, both the centres

still

Backs

of smaller satellite formations.

this basin the white

mass

of City, sitting near the waves, with shipping that dots the shoreline: above it, beginning with the " little turn to the left" into the

misty Atlantic, are

the Avell-knoAvn featm'es of the majestic

all

Morro da
Cruz
the fantastic Corcovado, here like a parrot's beak
the
Gavia Cube, even at this distance quaint and strange, and

block,

the

Sugarloaf bending backwards from the

;

;

lumpy dome

the

of Babilonia's rock

apparently double and

bifid,

distance,

beautiful

whilst the Tijuca Peak,

towers with cloudless outline, deep

And

blue upon a sky-blue gi'ound.
fifth

;

to the right there is

still

a

and mysterious, where filmy highland

blends with the lower heavens.

—

This is beautiful a delight, an enchantment
But there is
no anorexia here, and certain materialisms, appetite for instance,
are becoming impudent.
A cold wind rushes through the Pass,
and the thermometer has fallen from 72° (F.) to 62° shivering
!

—

point in the Tropics.

We

shoot the Barreii-a da Serra, the mucli
misplaced toll-gate, loudly calling for a writ " de essendo quietum

de Theolonio," and the station of Villa Theresa.

Then through

southern quarter of Petropolis, the "Ueberpfalz" of the
German colonists, the northern town being theii' " Lower Pala-

the

tinate."

rapidh',

We
we

leave

find

Maurm

om'selves,

Valley to the right, and descending
after

a last stage

of

ten

miles,*

comfortably housed in the "Hotel Inglez," kept by Mr. and

Mrs. Morritt.

Here the curtain
of a dining-room

frills upon a pleasant scene, composed mainly
and a bed-room.

* Namely, eiglit miles to the

two

to the hotel.

summit

of

the range

— the

old road being three

—and

cHArTJ<:ii

11.

AT PETROPOLTS.
Aqui pclo contrario poz Xatiira
Por BrasoGs da primeira arcbilectiira,
Volumes colossaes, corpos cnormes,
Cylindros de granite desconformes,
3Ia.«saj<, que nao ergiicrem nunca liumanos
Mil bra^os a gastar, gastar mil annos.

AgsiimjfQuo Fr. tVanrinco dc S<lo Carlos.

I

HAVi: given a few

i»iigts to tliis

Coekncv

trip, tliis

]h-azili;in

run down iVoni liondon to lUelnnond. My ohject is partly tliat
the thousands who well know the way may thus be able to test

Books of travel, it may be
upon the opinion of
remarked, depend
*'
or who have lived,
those
who
live,
that is to say, of
experts,"
There is a well-known woi-k,
amongst the scenes depicted.
much read in England, but called in Kgypt the " Ivomancc of
the accuracy of

my

descriptions.

for pernuinent character

—

the Nile;" despite

many

editions,

it is

dyhig the death.

Moreover, ns hinted iu the last Chapter, vacation and other
tourists will not long neglect the "Empire of the Southern
The beauties of yesterday and to-morrow may be
Cross."
reached Avithin three weeks of tranquil and varied voyage
from Lisbon and he who has coached from Ilio de Janeiro to
;

iwvi de Fora will have seen Nature in equatorial Africa and in
Some day the public will unlearn
the lowlands oi Hindostan.
the "fact" that yellow fever

is

* It is partly the fault of Brazilian
authors that this evil report has become
Thus in the "Comchronic in Europe.
])endio Element^ir " of Sr. Thomaz Ponijteo
de Soiiza Brazil (4th edit. Ilio: Laenimert,
1864, p. 472), we read of the climate of
Rio Janeiro, " £ jmuco salubre, principalmente depois da invasilo da febre amarella,

que alii ficou endemica." The little volume published by the Religious Tract
Society in 1860 was as i)remature in de-

endemic

in the

Brazil,* and will

daring that yellow fever in the Brazil is an
abiding guest.
The disease between 1850
and 1861 ajjpcared upon the coast without extending to the highlands, and then
It is revanished suddenly as it came.
grettable to see such statements in i)Opuiar
books intended to "diffu.se knowledge,"
and to think of tlie fate of the hapless
scholar who, before he ciin Z:ho«' anything,
is compelled to go through a triple process

— to

learn, to unlearn, to releam.

—

)

CHAP.

AT

11. J

FET110P0LI8.

31

master the truth that her clmiate, duly considermg that
distinctly tropical, is one of the healthiest in the world.

The reason

wliich led

me

it

is

carefully to sketch the excursion

from the metropolis to Petropolis, dispenses me with describing
the latter.

Yet, in this its horn* of extremest need,

when the

D. Pedro II. Railway is threatening to annilulate the coaches
by abstracting the passengers, and to shut up the Maua line by
and when even ^Ii-. Morritt,
withdrawing its salt and coffee
;

who, in 1841, horsed the last mail to Manchester, threatens to
close his hotel and to give up his labours, commenced in 1853,
Petropolis must have a few Imes of praise from me.*
It

no small matter to

is

Janeiro a spot where appetite

witliin five hours of Rio de
European, where exercise may be

find
is

taken freely, and where you enjoy the

No

skin.

which
west

is

is

luxmy

of sitting in a dry

place can be better fitted for the Pedro

now

in the heart of the city,

invaluable as a sanitarium.

Segundo College,

and the

countrj'- to

Petropolis was

left

the

unscathed

by the yellow fever of 1849— Gl,t and by the cholera of 1856.
It abounds in mineral springs, especially the ferruginous
and in
the "Municipality of the Court," the Columbia of the Brazil,
many of both sexes suffer from gastric derangement, and want
blood and ii'on.
a " Bismarck "
Surely His Imperial Majesty
\yill not abandon this St. Cloud, this city of his own creation,
the "small, miserable village of Corrego Secco "
"Dry Stream
Bed" converted by him into a court and cascine.
PetropoHs or rather, the " City of S. Pedro de Alcantara "
may be said to date from 1844. She is a child, but old enough
for a municipal chamber and aldermen, police authorities, and
;

—

—

—

all

—

the other material of self-rule or misrule.

This lust for

city-

ship, a part of " fonctionmanie," is prevalent in the Brazil as in

Mr. Bayard Taylor terms it a " vulgar,
snobbish custom."
I presume that boys everywhere long to
shed their jackets, and that few men despise a "fat appomtment."
See her on a bright, clear day, and you will find her a " coolness
to the eye."
Down the main thoroughfares, " Emperor Street "

the United States.

* Thus it is that in 1867, though the road
has been paying steady dividends of about
13^ per cent., the value of the stock has
not improved above quotation of 46§ per
(Annual Report of Mr.
cent, discount.
Henry Nathan.
+ Sly authority is a short report upon

yellow fever hy Dr. Croker Peuuell, Rio,
1850.
Yellow fever in the Brazil apparently does not rise high
the city of Sao
Paulo, also 2000
2400 feet above the sealevel, escaped the plague.
In Venezuela,
I am told, the fever line extends to nearly
double that altitude.

—

:

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

32

[chap. m.

and "Empress Street," pour bubbling, clear brown, graveland its feeding runnels, purer
than those of Salt Lake Cit}-. Encased in lively green grass,
they are crossed by black and scarlet bridges, and they will be
shaded with velvety stapelias, feathery Brazilian cedars, f and
quaint Barrigudos, the pot-bellied, spindle-like bombax. \\^e are
now in the land which produces the pine tree and palm, a more
poetical and picturesque combination than the orange and
Detached houses, villas
myrtle, which here also are at home.
and kiosks, chalets and cottages, extend themselves, form Imes
and fine off, giving to the jjlace on paper the look of a gigantic
Polycrab, whose centre is where the Piabanlia proper begins.
chrome is the taste, and it is good always excepting white
INIany roofs are painted
pilasters upon dark chocolate ground.
mutters
"pigs'
blood;"
but the tint lights up,
red the Briton
lilie the eye of a snake, the cool dark verdure of the hanging
floored streams, the Piabanlia*

—

—

In the flowery season the gardens are gorgeous there
all rhumbs, and you can find a solitude
The naval officer who comwithin five minutes of your door.
l)lained of Petropolis because he had always to look upwards,
could easily have discovered points from which to look down
forest.

;

are country walks in

upon wonderful glimpses and prospects of blue-green backNor is it a hardship to gaze upon mountain sides and

ground.

peaks so ununiform in shape here with the virgin forest seen
in profile from a partial clearing, there deep with gathered
shade, twined and corded, throttled and festooned with all its
llianas, tufted with wonderful epidendra and air-plants, bearded
;

with gigantic mosses of grotesquest shape,! and rich in every
vegetable form from the orchid to the cardamom, from the simple

bamboo and palm
little

leaves

quaint

stiff"

* It derives
fresh-water fish.

to the complicated

of the

tlie

delicate

and the

cecropias or candelabra trees.

name from a small
Mr. Walsh has named
I have been careful in
it "Pialnmda."
ascertaining the meanings of indigenoiis
words which ere long will be forgotten
throughout the Brazil.
f Cedrella odorata, a fine scented timits

The superstitious in the Brazil will
cut it but will not burn this wood, which
supplied the " True Cross. " The trembling
maple once enjoyed the same reputation in
England.
ber.

mimosa, from

myrtle to the monstrous aroids

J Called in tlie Brazil Barbadc Pan. The
people here ignore the use of this epijihyte,

which makes excellent girths, .surcingles,
and bands that require elasticity and
On the other hand its a.strinstrength.
gent properties are well known, after a
bone-dislocating ride, or a heavy fall witli
a mule, the sufierer is put into a hot bath,
in which the moss has been boiled, and he
soon feels the benefit of the "tanningprocess.

CHAP.

AT PETROPOLIS.

II.]

Nor

is

scenery.

33

the population of Petropolis less pleasing

We

than the
are not in the " Helvetic Meridionale," hut in a

Ems, where the Yalle3's are thals, the rills are backs,
and the hills are gehirge ; where white-headed boys shout at us,
and open-faced Avomen smile at us, and where the broad accent
tropical

of the Fatherland falls with agreeable reminiscences

Compared with the

ears.

and

at

upon our

not to say the primness,

times the moodiness, of the Luso-Latin race, these bees

of the northern hive

appear peculiarly genial, and

Mr. Theodore de Bunsen
the Creole
at

formalit}^,

home.

Germans

justifies

are here

me

my

friend

in asserting that as a rule

an improvement upon the Teuton

CHAPTER

III.

FROM PETROPOLIS TO JUIZ DE FORA.
"

Au

milieu d'line des vallees les plus accidentees du globe, veritable vallce Alpine,
une route magnifique, aux pentes douces et regulieres, comme il en existe a
peine encore dans I'Europe meme, oeuvre gigantesque par les immenscs
travaux d'art qu'elle a occasionus, et qui fait honneur au Bresil, unit PetroJuiz de Fora." .1/. Lials.
polis, ou mieux Rio de Janeiro,

—

ii

The

dtirk of other clays,

when

the difficulties of Brazilian travel

were to be dreaded, used to spend half a week on mule-back
between Petropolis and Juiz de Fora. The distance is 9I5- miles,
We shall see the
or, more correctly speakmg, 146*8 kilometres.
end of it in nine hours, halts not included. It may be divided
forty miles of descent, twenty-one of flat,
into three sections

—

riverine valle}',

and thirty of ascent.

Major Newdigate and his
brother, "on the rampage," from Canada; a personage whom I
I never saw so
shall call Mr. L'pool; and om* host, Mr. Morritt.
good-tempered a man as the latter it was admii'able to mark the
unflinching patience with which he stood the galling fire of interrogation from four persons armed with four several note-books,
and each asking simultaneously his or lier own question. We
called him the " Angel Morritt."
At 6 A.M. on Saturday, June 15, 1867, the top-heavy mail,
carrying seventeen passengers, and twenty-eight mail bags, a
weight of thi-ee tons, left the Hotel Inglez, and revived many
coachmg recollections. It was purel}' English, rigged out a la
Bresilienne.
The panel was inscribed " Celeridade," instead of
^,

AVe

Avere

six in the jaunting car,

;

bearing

Her

Majesty's arms.

The country bumpldiis were

slaves

whose Garibaldian shirts showed that they were in
process of sale.
The guard mounted a glazed and japanned hat;
coachey was a stout yomig German, and the team was composed of
four fiery little mules.
It is a spectacle to see their rearing and
of both sexes,

—
ciiAr.

FROM PETKOPOLIS TO

in.]

dancing, and

plunge at the

when

the ostler casts

JUIZ
off,

DE F6EA.

35

On

*'A11 right" is then a temporary "all wrong."

ing.

and
morn-

their frantic rush

collar, especially in the cool of a Petropolis

the

other hand, no passenger can quote the old growl
"

Heavy

roads,

and horses weak,

Coaclmiaii drunk, and guard asleep."

We

bowled in our char-a-banc through the

down the

city of

valley of the Piabanha, over the noble road

The

the Uniao e Industria.

known

as

old highway to INIinas Geraes, de-

scribed by travellers, and

still

below, to the right.

marked by

It is

D. Pedro,

upon our maps,

traced

lies

far

large deserted houses,

and

by huge hedges of the artichoke-shaped Pita,* curious in its
hardy life. As early as
1840 Gardner passed over ten leagues of rolling road, intended
to connect the Capital of Minas with that of the Empire ; and
the Provincial Assembly at Ouro Preto raised by law upwards
The new line, whose
of .^40,000, to be recovered by tolls.
thoroughness of execution is admirable, was laid out by the superintendent, Capt. Jose Maria de Oliveira Bulhoes, of the Imj)erial
Engineers, and his aides, Messrs. FlageoUot and Vigouroux, asI saw, without sursisted by the two Kellers, father and son.f
prise, in the virgin forest, French road-rollers, civilized aj)pliances
which had not reached London by May, 1865, when the hoofs of
blood-horses, and the costliest wheels from Long Acre, still did
flower, the last production of a long,

the dirty work,

t

The team was changed
in a hollow surrounded

by many a
*

traveller. §

at the

Agave americana, or fcetida, also
and bayonet plant, from its

stifF-armed leaves.
Its fibre is
kno^vn, and the robust flower-stalk,
thirty feet Mgli, supplies the best of razor
strops, and of corks for the insect-ijinking
This is the part properly called
naturalist.
Pita, a word popularly transfen-ed to the
whole.
t The germ of the idea was a railway
STirvey made for the Barao de Maud by an
English engineer, Mr. Edward Brainerd
Webb. The road was projected in 1857,
under Sr. Mariano Procopio Ferreira Lage.
When we travelled there, M, Audemar v>as
Prof. Agassiz (A Jourresident engineer.

straight,

Farm

of Padre Correa," situated

by low hills. It is mentioned with gratitude
The good farmer-i^riest, so celebrated for

called yucca
Avell

"

ney in Brazil, p. 63) speaks of "French
engineers," but omits the name of Captain
Bulhoes, which appears in evei-y inscription.
Thus foreigners in the Brazil often
claim and manage to carry off the honours
due to the natives.
+ In April, 1868, road locomotives were
tried upon this road with entire success
steam omnibuses for passenger traffic, and
traction engines for hea^-y goods, are to be
introduced in lieu of mules.
§ John Mawe (1809) speaks of Padre
Correo, his negi-oes, his forges, and his hospitality.
Luccock (1817) describes Padre
Correio, his mansion-house and his ambition,
St. Hilaire (1819^, Caldcleugh (1821), and
:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

33

his peaches, has long been dead,

received ro3'alty,

now

ni.

["'UAr.

and the house, which formerly

Now

lodges the company's live stock.

the

aspect of the road waxes motley.

There are mule troops (tropas),
divided, as usual, into lots of seven or more, each "lote" being
attended by its own "tocador," or driver.
These sliips of the
luxuriant S. American desert are freighted with salt and sundries,
forming the provincial imports, and they bring from the interior
coffee and cotton, raw^ and worked.
The brutes are our " black
beasts ;" they ic'tll stop and turn to us their sterns, and lash out
fiercely, and huddle together, and dash down the middle of the
road, as if determmed to upset us.
The *' cachorro brabo,"* or
fierce dog, here an ''institootion," flies at us from every turn. The
four-wheeled carts are paliDably German, ver}" unlike the Brazilian
" plaustra," which have descended unaltered through modern
Portugal from ancient Rome. Pigs meet us in droves as usual
in the Emj)u*e, they are fat and well-bred, especially the shortlegged and big-barrel'd " box-pig." f Some of the goats, with dun
golden coats and long black beards and points, remind me of
Africa.
The sheep are far from being Merinos; lean, ragged,
and ram-horned, the}' justify the popular prejudice against mutton. +
Black cattle are i:)ainful si^ectacles, scarred and eaten by
the white grub of the local Tzetze. § The day is coming when the
:

Gardner (1841), have not forgotten liim,
and the Rev. Mr. Walsh (1829) saw part
Imperial family at the establish-

of the

ment.

* "Bravo"

—

and sometimes "poiand plants, is
generally pronounced "brabo." Hence our
mutilated word "Brab," or wild date
tree.
This is a legacy from the "Gallego,"
who calls Vinho Verde "Binho Berde," as
with us high hills become " 'igh 'ills." The
sonous "

—

wild,

ajiplied to fruits

peciiliarity is of old date, as Scaliger shows,

"Baud

temere antiquas mutat Yasconia

God which took away the sins of the
St. Hil (HI. i. 44, 225) casts

workl."

doubt upon the assertion, and declares that
mutton is poor food in the hot parts of the
Brazil.
]\Ir.
Walsh (ii. 54) confirms the
is a popular prejudice
mutton, and so we may remember

assertion that there
again.st

there

in Naples.

is

mentioned by John

The objection

Mawe

(i.

is

also

chap. 5, and

especially in chap. 7.)
second volume will prove that in one
pai-t of the Brazil, at least, mutton is prebeef, and is held to be the natural
^^""f^^/o
food of man
also, that the meat is excel-

My

;

Cui

nihil'
(

v,;V|g,.„

est
'

aliud

'

.-ivere

"

+

'

quam

Porco Canastra, a term derived from
of that
shape.
It differs from the true Tatu (the
black tatou of Azara, Es-sais, tome 3, 175),
and from the tatu -peba, or flat tatu.
J "Mutton was, and still is," says
Luccock (p. 44), "in small request among
the people of Brazil, some of whom allege,
perhaps jestingly, that it is not proper food
for Christians, because it was the Lamb of

" Tatu Canastra," the armadillo

lent, not only in the highland prairies so
well-ntted for wool growing, but upon the
hot banks of the Rio de Sao Francisco.
As a rule, throughout the Empire, however,
food prejudices are uncommonly
strong, and the art of Soyer is uncommonly

weak,
§

It

is

called

"Berne."

The word

is

generally

Yerme

explained as a corruption of
(worm), but I believe it to be of

Guarany

origin.

The wonn

by Azara, who believes that
the skin.

Prince IMax

(i.

is

mentioned

it penetrates
29) reasonably

CJiAP.

FROM PETROPOLIS TO JUIZ DE FuRA.

III.]

37

fine

beef of Sao Paulo and Parana will supplant, at Ptio de Janeii-o,

the

over-driven,

under-fed,

and worm-blown meat which now

scantily supplies her monopolised butcheries.

At the

stations

we

find the usual varieties of the Gallinacefe.

There are a few Guinea

They

fowls,

sometimes pure white albinos.

are rarely eaten, not because they are bad, but because they

Pigeons multiiily

prefer an ant diet.

:

here, as in Russia, they

"holy emblem." The goose is a bird to be looked at, and
is generally as safe from the Brazihan, who believes that the main
of its diet is snakes, as from the ancient Briton.
Unless fattened
it is dry and tasteless as the turkey, perhaps the worst of all
volatile in the Empire.
The best are the ducks, especially the
young "Muscovies" or "Manillas" (Anas Moschata, Canard de
Barbarie, indigenous in the Brazil).
There is another variety
of almost anserine proportions, and these are often half wild,
flying away from and returning to their homes.
Of poultry
proper there are the common breed, the knicker-bocker'd Cochin
are a

China, here not

"A

1 for the table;" the

"Pampa"

or piebald,

marked with black on a white ground the " Nanico," a
pert, pretty bantam
the Gallinha napeva, a short-legged or
"dumpie";* the " Sura," a tail-less variety nothing to do with
M. de Sora the "Tupetuda" or "Cacarutada"; the "Polish" or
"pollish," so called from its top-knot; and the Arripiado or
prettily

;

;

—

;

frizzly chicken of the

The
is

latter,

when

an excellent

United States, used in African superstitions.
down the legs (emboabas or sapateiras),

gaitered

la3^er

of eggs.

The

tall

thin bird, with a peculiar

screaming and prolonged crow, which travellers have converted

and which the superstitious believe
to be a descendant from the bird which warned St. Peter,
startles the stranger's ear.f
There are also fowls with dark
bones, wdiich the people sell cheap, holding them as the Somal
do all volatiles, to be s e mi -vult urine. We especially remark the
gallinaceous hermaphrodites, hens with spurs, and the haughty
into a singing cock (musico),

Many tales

are told of negroes
consequence of the
grub being deposited in the nose and other
places: if squeezed to death and not extracted, it may, of course, produce serious
results.
The usual treatment is by mercurial ointment.
* This bird can hardly run, and fattens
qiiiekly.
I found the breed in Unyamwezi,

doubts

this.

losing

their

lives in

and I tried to bring Lome caged specimens,
but they all died en route,
+ The people say that this arises from
"Gogo," not the pip, but a thickening of
John Mawe
the membranes of the throat.
tells us that in his day the bird was gi-eatly
The sound
valued when its voice was fine.
always appeared to me "croupy."

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

38

One

look of the cock.

of the

most

interesting,

[chap. hi.

and by

far the

ugliest, is the Gallinha mesticia, or

da India, a lank, ragged hu-d,
with yellow shanks and a dark bottle-green plume turned up with
red

;

the crimson neck and breast are nude of feathers naturally,

but apjiearing as

if

plucked.

A

specimen of this bird

is

kept in

the poultry-yard, as the hog in the Persian stable, to maintain

health by attracting
afflicted

all

the sickness.

with the hen fever,

may

its

Hen-wives, and husbands

learn that in the Brazil those

remarkable as dry-nurses, tending
chickens with a parent's care.
And the much-talked-of crane,
the

neutrals,

capons,

are

the agami or ogami of the

Amazonian

basin, described as bear-

ing the relation to poultry which a shepherd's dog bears to
sheep, and locally called " Juiz de Paz." Juge de Paix is, so far

from being a feathered Quaker, and despite his "pretty looks
and ways," the most turbulent and pugnacious of his family.
I reserve for a future book my observations upon the acclimatization of the magnificent Gallinacese of the Brazil.

Europe has

borrowed but one bird from the New AVorld. llemain the curassoa (Hocco or Miitum, Crax Alector)
the many species of
Jacii (Penelope), more gamey in flavour than our pheasant
the
guianensis
Nambu or Inamba (Tinamus) the Capoeira (Perdix
or dentata) and man}- others.
Many roadside tenements appear to be, but are not deserted
the inmates are "cutting tie-tie,"* as the local slang is they have
fled during the day from conscription into the bush, t
The third
stage from Pedro do Bio to Posse (Possession), t becomes interesting.
The broadening Biver Valley affords a vista of the now
respectable Piabanha, no longer a rowdy mountain torrent.
Gigantic slides of forest- crowned granitic rock, bare-sided and
;

;

;

;

smooth-slojied, except where jDitted with weather-holes and tufted

with Tillandsias and Bromelias, which seem capable of gi'owing

upon
ing.

mornof
Petrothat
improvement
u^jon
a notable

a tea-table, rise sheer in the brilhant blue-pink air of

The

climate

* Tii-ando Cipo.

is

This word, sometimes

v\Titten SiiJo, and erroneously Cii)6 (the til
or cedille not being requii-ed), means in
Tupy a root
Cipo im, for instance, is
:

the climbing salsaimrilla.
In the Brazil
it is equivalent to the Portuguese " trepador" (climber^ to our "lliana," and to
the Anglo-negro "tie-tie."
The best for
making rope is said to be the Cipo cururu
but these climljcrs and \'ines are of x;ourse
;

little studied.
1" I would remind my readers, that during
the Crimean war, when a conscription was
talked of, it was declared that the jjopulation of certain works in Derbyshire would
"flee to the mines, and lead a sort of
Robin Hood life under ground."
X Guarda da Posse the Guard of taking
Possession
was an old name for military

—

ijosts.

—

"

CHAP.

FROM TETROPOLIS TO JUIZ DE

III.]

Full A.

39

there the warm clamp sea breeze condensed bj' the cold
momitain tops, drenches the Serra, and ''tips over" into the
settlement here it is glorious summer, with the winter of dispolls

;

;

content a few miles to the south.
lowly guise, stunted and
too closel}' planted.

than the whole
*'

rarely

;

Coifee begins to appear, but in

is mean, and the shi'ub is
" Clear sowing" would make the half better

sickl}";

moreover,

the soil

field

hands are wanting, the

soil is

beneficed,"* and the surface shows a carpet of weeds.

Posse is a place of some importance, wliicli collects the rich
produce of the districts about the Porto Novo da Cunlia to the
east.
After Luiz Gomez, the sixth station, the land wants
nothing but rotation of crops

From

and the cotton cure would heal

;

the roadside under the grassy

all

humus

of
the River Valley, Professor Agassiz found " drift " in immediate
its

present

ills.

contact with the floor of crystalline rock, and he observed that

where

it lies

thickest, there the coffee flourishes most.

It deter-

mines, he says, the fertiUty of the soil on account of the great
variety of chemical elements contained in

process which

The

it

glacial theory has inserted its tlim

student, however,

it,

and the kneading

has undergone under the gigantic ice plough.
is

edge into the Brazil

;

the

puzzled to account for the absence of those

which in other lands show the gravitating
Nor has any satisfactory explanation
action of the ice fields.
been given the sun and rains of the tropics can hardly effect
what the frosts and the sudden climatic changes of the temperates
have failed to effect, f
The Piabanha now flows between heights of the blackest virgin
forest
and the dark lush verdure, contrasting with the greyyellow or pale-green of the poorer lands, shows its wealth. In the
grooves and

striee

;

;

cuttings

we

find a paste of red clay

deeply tinged with oxide of

+

from the mica and based upon whitish grey
The banks are a double line of noble growth, the

iron, proceeding

gneiss.

* Bemficiado.

Improvements made by

a tenant are called " bemf eitorias.

t My excellent friend, Dii Chaillu (2nd
Exp. chap. 15), found these marks distinctly
shown upon rocks close to the Equator
"Whilst I am on the subject of boulders
and signs of glaciei-s, I may as well mention
that, when crossing the hilly countiy from
Obindji to Ashira-land, my attention was
drawn to distinct traces of grooves on the
,

:

surface of several of the blocks of gi-anite
which there lie strewed aljout on the tops

liills.
I am aware
seems to sujjpose that
the same movements of ice which have
modified the surface of land in northern
counti'ies, can have taken place here imder
the Equator but I think it only proper to
relate what I saw with my o^\ti eyes." This
testimony is the more valuable as the author
seems not to see its import or its impor-

and

declivities of tlie

how

preposterous

it

;

tance.

+ Barro vermelho, of deep colour, like
brick dust.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

40

[chap. in.

" vestinienta " or clothing by which the Brazilian farmer judges
In places the precipices are so thickly covered with
the soil.
timber and undergi'owth, that the river dashes unseen down
a

of

Worth
London or

in

cones and

live

bed.

million

of

money

if

within

its

excursion trains

is the bamboo-copse.*
The cane appears
columns that invest the trees, in piled up
feathery heaps, in serpentines and arches, in the most fantastic
figures, and in those gi'aceful waving curves upon which the eye
There is an immense variety, from the thorny
delights to dwell.
large-leaved pinnated and thick-stemmed " Taquarussii," fifty to
sixty feet long, to the tufty and lanceolate Criciuma, which cuts
like the sugar-cane, Avhilst other species bend over the road,
tapering
the semblance of a fishing-rod.
Thyrsi of climbing
plants, chnging to the dead trunks, suggest C3'presses. The Cipo
matador, or murderer Uiana, is om* old friend the " Scotchman
strangling the Creole " on the Isthmus of Panama, and the
" Parricide tree " of Cuba.
Often thick as its victim, this vegetable vanq^ire sometimes rises from the neck-compressing coil
and stands up like a lightning conductor, t
"Bii'ds of the
gaudiest plume vie with the splendid efflorescence of the forests
which they inhabit;" especially tlie large-beaked black and
orange-throated Ivhamphastus (discolorus), of the exclusively
American family. From the densest brake we hear his Tucano

Paris

m

!

Tucano

!

but we cannot, like the travellers of 1821, convert him

Being eagerly hunted, these beauties are very timid,
and perch on the tallest rocks and trees for two j-ears I have
vainly attempted to rob their nests in order to observe whether

into a stew.

;

the colossal

bill is

easily tamed, they

or

is

make

not found witliin the egg.
excellent pets,

They are
*'
Lord

and with their

Hood's noses," they are comical as com't fools.
Presently our old friend the Piabanha sweeps away to the right
and we part for ever. It falls into the Parahyba do Sul+ river at
* Locally called Taquiira, or Tacoara, and
dictionary, Tacuara (Bambusa Togoara, Mart.).
Another Indian name is

supply of

Taboca.

the savages,

in the

The Taquanissu is sometimes foily
and thick as a man's arm the
branches are armed with short, thick thorns,
and the Botocudos, like the Hindus of Malabar, made vessels of it ,the joint-sept forming the bottom.
I have seen Brazilians
candying long segments by way of canteen.
"When young, this large reed contains a
feet high,

;

sweet water,

often

useful

to

The siliceous exterior recommended the bamboo for arrow tips, and

travellers.

we

are told,

made

of it their

razors.

f St. Hil. III. i. 30. Bates, i. 50, well
describes this parasitic fig, which he calls
the
Sipo matador, or the murderer liana.
J Parahyba, called do Sul, to distinguish
it from the stream that waters the northern
province of that ilk, is usually explained to
'

'

cn.vp.

FROM PETEOPOLIS TO JUIZ DE FuRA.

HI.]

41

Tres Barras, the three sister waters remindmg us of " Nore, and
Siiir, and Barrow " the Parahybuna, with which we are to make
acquaintance, is the northernmost of the trio.
Running along
;

the

flat

valley

we

sight the

Parahyba without fearing

its register

or custom-house ; * this place Avas terrible to strangers

smugglmg

diamonds and gold dust, and it has consigned many an unfortunate to life-long imprisonment or to Angolan exile.
The
near
Paulo,
small
Sao
river which I have seen so
is here broad as
the Thames at Battersea, and so stately a king of the valley that
" Engineer's art "

I can hardly claim acquaintance -with him.
is

rarely artistic, but the Birmingham-built bridge, with 320 tons

of iron and latticed girders painted red, i)ut together by Mr.
O'Kell,

is

an

effective adjunct to the

scenery

;

its

vermilion sets

deep luxuriant verdure, as the fisherman's cap becomes
the glaucous waves.
This fine bridge, and another at Parahyba
off the

do Sul, the

city,

which cost 800 contos,

will be

thrown out of

emplo}Tiient, and three others have been built for the use of the
II. liailway.
Thus it is the money goes and thus
one river has three bridges, whilst half-a-dozen others have not

D. Pedro

;

one.

At 11*30 A.M., after four hours of actual travelling, we
reached Entre Bios, " Betwixt the Rivers,"t the half-way house.
Here

a breakfast

—and

a bad breakfast too

—awaited

the pas-

was being served uji, I inspected
the foundations of a railway station which will jmt to shame
the hovels answering to that name on the majority of the AngloBrazilian railways these remind me of the venerable remnants
of Stephenson's line, the "Liverpool and Manchester," which
still linger for instance at Newton Bridge.
A few months after
our visit, the railway was opened to Entre Rios, thus cutting
across the fine macadamized road.
And worse still, the I).
sengers.

AVhilst the "feijiio"

:

mean opposed

—

to
"Catii," good
hence
Southey's "Ygviatu, or tlie good water,"
should be Yeatu, the bad river (Para, river,
and Aj^ba, bad). Others make it a corruption of Pirahyba, which would be
Bad
fish river." Others deduce it from Pira and
ayba, the fishy or scaly disease
leprosy.
The "bad river" would be an excellent
descriptive name.
It is one of the most
dangerous streams in the Brazil.
Many of
those working on the railway lost their
A description of its course and
lives in it.
of its colonization by the English in days
;

'

'

—

now forgotten, belong

to tlie province of SDio

Paulo.

Generally it is supposed in the Tupy or
Lingoa Geral that Para means a river—
Parana, the sea.
If there be any distinction between the words, the reverse is the
case.

* Properly a post where, in former times,
passports were visited and duties were
taken.

+ The name
to the

Doab

is

equivalent to our Delta,
and to the Rineon of

of India,

Spanish America.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

42

Pedro

II. proposes to

eiglit niiles to

prove to

tyro that

du-ectly northwards to the

Francisco.
question.

[chap. hi.

run down the Paraliyba River some

Porto Novo da Cimha.

the veriest

BRAZIL.

A glance

the railway should be

head waters of the

But

as usual the

Why

not then trim

at the

line

is

—make

gi'eat

thirt}'-

map

will

(U-iven

Rio de Sao

a party and a political

the main trunk go north,

and the branch eastward ?
Entre Rios* declmes to 610 feet above the sea-level the air is
bad, hot and damp, breeding fevers like grubs the water is worse.
A hotel, therefore, will kill as well as keep the keeper. Hereabouts the once luxuriant valley is " cleaned out" for coffee, and
must be treated with cotton and the plough. The sluice-like
rains following the annual fires have swept away the carboniferous humus from the cleared round hill-tops into the narrow
swampv bottoms, which are too cold for cultivation every stream
is a sewer of liquid manure, coursing to the Atlantic, and the
;

;

;

superficial soil is that of a brickfield.

Here too the land

suffers

—

from two especial curses, the large j^roprietor, and from the
agricultural system bequeathed by the aborigines, or from Inner
Africa, and perpetuated by the slovenly methods of culture ever}'where necessar}' when slave labour is employed. In the Brazil
as in Russia and in the Southern States of the Union, where vast
plantations must be merely skimmed, virgin soil forms a considerable item in the real value of landed proiiert}' the want
of manure and the necessity of fallows admit only half of the whole
sometimes hardly even a tenth to annual cultivation.
estate
This evil must be mitigated before the country can be colonized
or greatly improved, but it is not easy to suggest a measure
;

—

—

without the evils of " disapi:>ropriation."t
" Serraria," our next station, begins the ascent, and the road
wdsely as usual hugs the margin of the Parahybuna River. I
* Below Eiitre Rios, and sixteen miles
above the Porto Novo da Cuuha, are rapids
which fall about 120 feet in two miles.
Where they end the Sapucaia streamlet
enters the left bank, and opposite it is an
islet rising some live feet above low watei'.
Here agates and bloodstones have been
found exactly resembling the formations
which will be described in the Sao Francisco

River.

+

A

Brazilian friend writes

tome

— "The

iniquitous law of 1823, which put a stop to
land concessions, caused substituous occu-

This

pation to take the place of law-ful titles,
Thus the best lands were worked out and
ruined."
JLuccock (p. 407) says, "it may probably be from the dark colour of the stones
that the river derives its name, if it be
written Parab<ina
or if Parahybuna be the
j^roper mode, from the deep tinge of the
water."
Caldcleugh (ii. 200) translates it
Scholars
Para, river, and ibuna, black.
make it a corruption of Parayuna, a river
at once a picturesque
rolling black waves
;

—

and remarkably correct description.

CHAP.

III.]

FROM PETROPOLTS TO

JUIZ DE FOE A.

.43

eastern drain of the Mantiqueira, or Trans-maritime Range,

a broad

much
The "Sawerj^"

shallow stream of flavous hue,

Piabanha when we
the Company, as

last
it

saw

it.

taps the coffee districts of

is

resembling the
is

important to

Uba and Mar

de

Hespanha.
The ''Union and Industry," white and glaring, sweeps along
the tumbling riyer, which has cut deep ii-regular channels in
On both sides are layers of deep red
the dark sunburnt rock.
clay, with imbedded boulders and masses of imdecomposed feldspar, covered with a dense wood of eyergreens, that winter when,
and only when, they please. AVe now pass through the Serra
das Aboboras, or " Pumkin Range," and our attention is drawn
This " Montague
to a local lion, the Pedra da Fortaleza.*
Pelee," a giant amongst its colossal race, is a block, apparently
single, of chocolate-coloured gneiss, springing 500 feet from the
riyer gulley, where the stream makes an elbow; we run under
a vertical wall, 100 yards high, which gathers up the sunbeams,
and which radiates them like a furnace. Its grim brown buttress, thinly bristhng, where touched by weathering, with large
Bromelias, which looked like bits of grass, suggested to my wife
the idea of a church, and mere specks upon the airy summit
denoted its capping of tall forest. As we wind panting round
the base, with the canoe-less river on our right, we detect a
russet-coated capyvara or water-hog, basking in the sun, and
calmly prospecting the unclean stream.! Hawks and vultures
*Castelnau gives the total lieiglit 150
metres, with a vertical wall of 100 metres.
He adds, "aucime plante ne poiissait siir
cette vaste surface," whereas the steepest
walls are tufted over with air-plants.
It would be interesting to examine these
rocks, which may belong to the ancient sedimentary strata, metamorphosed by heat to
highly ciystalline substances, known as the
Laurentian, and the most ancient known on
dawTithe North American continent. The
animal of Canada" has not yet been discovered in the Brazil on the other hand, it
has not yet been sought for.
The Hydrochffirus Capybara, or Cavia
'I'
'

'

;

The " Indian " name is
Capyv-ara (Linn.).
Capias usual pretty and picturesque.
uara," or " Capivara," means the "grass
eater," not as the T. D. says, "quivive
entre ocapim. " The origin is "Caapiim,"
or " Capyi," corrupted to "Capim," the
'

common

Brazilian

word

for

'

"green meat,"

-whence

"

"Capinar," to "cut grass," and
" an eater," composed of "g,"

Gr-u-^ra,"

"u," "uu," or "^ii," "to eat,"
"S,ra," the verbal desinence which
curiously resembles the Hindostani " wala."
"
Hence the Argentine name " Capiguai-a
(Southey, i. 137) is more correct than the
the Spanish-Americans geneIjrazilian

relative

and

:

rally

it Capincho or Carpincho, and
corrupt it to Cabiais and ChiI do not know why St. Hil. HI. i.

name

travellers
guire.

181, ^vi-ites "Capimvara," it is certainly
not so pronounced. M. H. A. Weddell (Castelnan, vol. vi. 318) informs us, " Le vi-ai
nom de cet animal en Gruarani est Capu"
habitant des pres.'
qiia, mot qui signifie
In the interior, as will appear, the people
confound it with the Caitetii, or Tagassu,
the peccari (Dicotylos labiatiis, not the torquatus).
The wild men used to wear its
teeth as ornaments.
This rodent equals in size a half-gro-mi
'

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

44

sought

cooltli

in

upper

the

[chap.

iii.

the kingfisher flitted over

fether,

the water, ducks and dahchicks sported in the smooth reaches,
wikl pigeons whirred past us, small ground-doves ran along the
road, and thrushes, hlack and brown, balanced themselves uj^on

the spray,

silent all,

The "bush" looked

a likely place

*'

il

fait trop

chaud.'"

game; we were

for

ounce remains,

however, that the

kiUed

doubtless thinkmg

whilst

told,

deer has been

the

off.

The Parahybuna now

ignores gold working

;

its

once eminently

auriferous sands were dredged for the precious metal and for the
white, pink, and Avine-j^ellow topazes, once a branch of provincial

industry and

The red ferruginous

now completely abandoned.

and the rusty quartz probably still contain gold but the
been exhausted. In Colonial days the
Government, m'lrahile dictu ! interdicted mming uj^on this
streamlet lest the market value of the ore might be greatly
reduced through the habitable world, I heard the same expressions used in London when California proved to be the El
Dorado. Yet, as the old searcher said, " the night has no ej^es,"
and the gold disappeared despite orders, and without affecting the
soil

;

surface deposits have

globe's exchange.

The large Parahybuna Station shows us the Register Bridge,
where duties are still taken upon im2)orts into the Province of
Minas Geraes. In 1825 the tax was 3 $640, or a little more than
17s. per cart; in 1867 it had risen to 20$ 000, then about 2Z.
Thus the Provmce pays a compound impost, on the seaboard and
it is an iigly lialf -finished brute,
somewhat like an overgrown Guinea-pig
(called "Guinea," because it is Brazilian).
The muzzle is bluff', and the jaw very deep,
it swims with
like that of a fatted hog

porker

:

;

the square head carried high, like the
hippopotamus, and it is said to bear its
young on its back, as that animal does.
The grunt, not " bray," is a kind of \igh
ugh
It is gregarious, living in packs of
10 to 60, and in old legends the chief
was mounted by a pigmy demon, called Caap6ra, or " foi-est dweller. " When rendered
shy by hunting, the Capyvara never quits
the water except to bask in the sun
in
captivity it thrives, but its habits are filthy
and ultra-i:)orcine. In Spanish America it
is eaten, and M. Isabelle declares, with
many others, that the flesh is not bad, after
being placed for eighteen hours in running
!

water.
rarely

The

Ilegious

Brazilians

use

its

leather,

Humboldt (Voyage aux
equatoriales du Nouveau Continent,

its

meat.

ii.
217), found troops of CO to 100,
and believes that these graminivors eat fish.
The Capivara ajjpears in Brazilian j)oetry

vol.

:

thus writes in his "Parabolas," Sr. Jose
Joaquim Corrca de Almeida (Parabolas,
114)

!

Assim procede o

Que

politico

nao extrema
Calculadameute segue
Da Capivara o .systema.
os principios

;

;

Thus proceeds the

Where

He

politician,

princii:)les

go not too far

right studiously jtursues the

System

of the Capivar.

;

CHAP.

FROM

III.]

PETIIOPOLIS TO JUIZ BE FORA.

.

45

and the evil is little lessened by double loading
at its frontier
each wheeled vehicle at the Pdo de Janeiro side, and by a re-dis;

tribution of weight after settling the dues uj^on

Minas ground.
economist must condemn this outlandish system
It keeps up the old Colonial habit of placing
of inland douanes.

Every

political

barriers between provinces, and

it

interferes Avith

holding out premiums to bribery and contraband

commerce by
traffic.

Many

has been proposed to abate this nuisance.* But it
is easier to advocate the suppression of the tolls than to show
whence the equivalent in coin is to come.
years ago

it

This bridge has ever been an eye-sore. In 1842, when Minas
and her parent, Sao Paulo, were " up," or " out," the officer in
charge burned it down to prevent the advance of loyalist
troops, and in 1843 Castelnau found it unrepaired.
It is now
composed of new timbers supported by old stone piers and abutments, and no longer roofed over. A little beyond it, a tattered hut
marks the scene of another revolutionary affair this Rocinhaf da
:

Negra,

" Little

or

present, to the
Leite.

On

Clearing of

ConseUieiro

the left

is

the

Negress,"

the Barra, or

i.

47.

Rossinho da Negra (Mr. Walsh). Here
must trouble the reader with a few neces-

+

I

sary explanations.
The Ro^a, or Rogado, in the Brazil, is a
defricM, a clearing for agricultural purgenerally, as in Africa, at a little
poses
distance from the farm house, or village
sometimes it has, often it has not, a
thatched shed to shelter the day-labourers.
In i^laces " Rocinha " may be translated
"country house in the suburbs." The
Sitio is a bona fide farm with messuages.
The chacara, or chacra, is a word borrowed
from the Tupy the indigenes applied it to
chatheir wretched huts, and in Peru
crayoc " means " Lord of the Field:" the
;

:

:

'

at

mouth of

the Rio Preto,!
Across this western in-

the southern frontier-limit of Minas.

* St. Hil. III.

belongs,

Pedro de Alcantara de Cirqueira

'

South Americans ti-ansfen-ed it to their
pretty villas and country houses. Mr. William Bollaert (Ant. of Peru, &c. p. 67),
defines it to mean in the Quichua tongue
"estates, fai-ms, plantations." Mr. Cle,

ments Markham (Quichua Gram. & Diet.
sub voce), translates it by " Quinta " (a
house and grounds), so called because the
tenant paid one-fifth to the proprietor. The
Fazenda is the Spani.sh Hacienda, the plantation of o\ir tropical colonics, including

the ground and the buildings.
The prois entitled /'Fazendeiro," and the
here represents one of the landed
county families of England, or the planters
of the West Indies.
In the Northern
Provinces of the Empire, the Fazenda is
called
Engenho (Southey's Ingenio is
Spanish), especially when it is a sugar
plantation, and the owner is Senhor de
Engenho, one of the local aristocracy, and
not to be confounded, unless you want
.shooting, with the
lavi-ador or farmer.
The Engenhoca is a small Engenho.
X Caldcleugh (ii. 200) confounds the Parahybuna with the Rio Preto, which he says
is a " mere translation of the Indian word
Paraibuna. "
It is the Portuguese equivaprietor
class

lent of

Una

(anciently Huna),

" Blackwater

River," properly Yg-una, softened to Y'una.
The Y, or Yg, meaning water, is
omitted and supplied by Rio Una.
These
black, or rather deep brown, coffee-coloured streams, are always universal on the
seaboard, but comiJaratively rare in the
interior
the tinge is evidently due to
:

decomposed vegetation, and often under the
black sediment we find the snowy sand of
the bed.

—
THE HIGHLAKDS OF THE

46

fluent lay the old road

BEAZIL.

[chap. hi.

from Eio de Janeiro via Rodeio, Vas-

souras and Valonca, into Southern Minas.
Further on, to the right, is " Eancheria," a village hardly ten

The normal church is at the head of the square, the
years old.
normal big house is at the bottom, and the normal fountain is in
whence the saying
the centre
:

" The chafari/i
John Anthony and the matriz." *

which described the constituents of these settlements. Ai'ound
the gmncle place dive Clmcm-RS and dwelling houses, used by the
during the rest of the year
rich i)lanters on Smidays and fetes
they are shut up. There are half-a-dozen Vendas onde nao
:

—

vendem nada.

t

As usual

in the Brazil, the

Cemetery occupies a

conspicuous upland, and the dwellings of the dead are far better
Also certain offices which

situated than those of the living.

with us mostly conceal themselves in a shame-faced way, here
stand out solitary and eye-catching.
iVbout " Rancharia"+ the land is modified by

distance from

its

The opulent water supply of the maritime heights
the Serra.
disappears, the streams shrink, the ascents are longer and less
abrupt, the rich red clayey soil of the Rio de Janeii'o Province
further south, now alternates with light-colom-ed loams, far di-ier,
as in INIinas generally, much more porous and
The " Matas Negras," those luxuriant dark jungles,
have made way for a yellow-green grass, and near the stream
dustier, and,

friable.

for bamboo-tufts, less magnificent than before.

Travellers have

found garnets imbedded in the underlying gneiss

common

* Chafai'iz
,
(^
^^/^

\5v-l

;

the stone

is

as worthless.

is

corniptcd Mauro-Araliic

and the word
Shakarij)
'

is

riili-

culed by the Spaniards, who prefer the
The Matriz is the parish
Latin "fueute."
church, with filial chapels under it.
+ " A vending-place without vent." The
word Venda will be exijlained in a future
page.

X The old Brazilians used to apply the
word Rancharia, " Ranchei^," or collection
of sheds, to the huts and wigwams of the
Prince Max
aboriginal heathen %'illages.
(ran(iii. 151), has by misprint Eanchario
chaiios ou villages de Camacans,

iii.

31),

and makes

—with

it

syuonymous

Akl6a,

,,

or

—

wliicli it is

Akleia.

The

not

lattci-

is

a
t
lU (El-dawat);
/-oi iA
jj^i
derived from *i
the Arabic
,

.

in Portugal

•

i

and

in Portugiiese

.^

Hindostan

it

means any village. St. Hil. HI. i. 5, tells
us that in the Brazil it is applied exclusively to a settlement of catechized natives,
who are said to be "Mansos," tame; or
Aldeados, "villaged."
This might have
been the case in his days, the word is not
so exclusively iised now.
Thus it was
similar to the "Reduction" of Spanish
South America, especially when it conld
boast of a missionary,

FROM

CHAP. HI.]

The Capella de

PETF-OPOLLS TO JUIZ

T)E FOEx\.

47

liill chapel on the right,
umquwhile Eegistro Yelho. It "was
in Colonial days the principal " contagem " where toll was taken,
and even in 1801 the dues were called Quintos, (Royal) Fifths (of
Smuggling Avas then to the '' miner " Avliat robbery was
gold).
The Superintendent and his
to the ingenuous youth of Sparta.

announces

Mattliias Barbosa, a
Station,

jNIathias

guard, with spies

over the country, kept a sharp look out

all

who had not before theii' eyes the fear of jail
time Africa. The contrabandist stored his valuables
for those

or mariin horse-

whips and gun-stocks, in his provision of beans, and in the
Foreigners dreaded the ordeal.
stuffing of his pack-saddles.
Luc cock called the Superintendent "his Lordsliip," and Caldcleugh

(ii.

202) tells the sad tale of what happened to a femi-

nine votary of impromptu free trade.

my

lived

G

friend Dr.

psora deserves notice.

,

The

Here, for some time,
whose successful practice in treating
patient,

when

a slave, Avas rolled in

mud, and solemnly sundried into the necessity of bathing to
the "lady of fashion " the same receipt was applied with Quixotic
gravity in the shape of viscid oil, Avhich had the same effect.
Then came heavy inclines and a steep hill, sparkHng with Avild
fuchsia and bright with lilies, parasitic plants, and a profusion
:

of unplanted Maracujas, or

Passion-flowers,* one of the

gifts

Parahybuna
became
more frequent, and the curse of great j)roprietors is no longer
upon the land.t We changed mules for the last time at the Ponte
do Americano, a bridge Avith solid tmiber gii'ders, and we ran at a
hand gallop up the river valley, which now bulges out into sites
A mortuary chapel in a neAv AA'all-less cemetery
for settlements.
on the left, was for once a grateful spectacle, and ere the sun set,
Ave rounded a corner, and sighted Juiz de Fora.
The station is at the northern or further end, distant some
tAvo kilometres of Avild bush, Avhich clusters thickly round the
"SVe all stared, even Avhen blazes by tAvelve hours of kaleicity.
doscopic travel, to see a Avell-gravelled footway, AA'itli posts and
wheeltii'es for rails, in front of a carefully trimmed quickset hedge
of

tiie

NeAV to the Old AVorld.

brawled down

* Passiflora

fume.

its

Far

apology for a bed..

(inoamata

?

)

witlioiit

per-

The System enumerates ten wild

species.

+ Their effect is that which has been in
France, -which was in the Southern States

beloAv us the

Houses and

of the Union,

fields

and which

iis in Great Britain,
economist duly apjireciate the benefit derived from the suhdivision of land

AVhen

will the political

.'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

43

that protected,

Behind

it,

not a neat park,

on a dwarf

rise,

but an

undrained

[niAr. in.

swamp.

with pretty ground below, was a villa

with a squat sqiiare tower, which looked as if brought bodily
from Hammersmith. At last, dismounting with stiffened knees,
we were led by Mr. Morritt to the " chalet," a cottage built in
curious proportions of brick and wood, uncompromising materials.
In due time every comfort appeared, and with tobacco
and chat, assisted by Messrs. Swan and Audemar, C.C. E.E.,

we much enjoyed our
sound sleep

in the light,

a coaching day.

evening in Minas Geraes. And the
cool, pure air was the properest end of

first

CHAPTER

IV.

AT JUIZ DE FURA.
And

do-w'n

The Derby

thy

slopes,

romantic Ashbum, glides

dilly carrying six insides.

Byron?

The

proper style and

Fora

Cidade de Santo
Antonio de Paralivbuna," but a colonial justice of the peace in
foreign parts, an official now obsolete,* having been sent there in
forgotten j-ears,

Mawe

it

of Juiz de

title

will ever

known

be

is

*'

to the people

by

its trivial

it "Juiz
Luccock (1817) makes it contain a " small chapel
and a few poor houses." In 1825 it was still a " Povoacao," a
mere institution. In 1850 it was promoted to the rank of " Freguezia" and "Villa," ijarish and township. In 1856 it advanced
to citysliip, and in 1864 its municipality numbered 23,916 souls,
including 1993 voters and 33 electors.
Such is progress in the
Brazil, where the situation is favourable and
nota bene where
communications are opened.

name.

(1809) speaks of

it

as a Fazenda, calling

de Fuera."

—

The

settlement

of

consists

three

—

distinct

parts,

" Santo

Antonio," the city proper; the station of the Company "Union and
Industry; " and the German colony, " D. Pedro Segundo."
The
situation is good,

windmg

river-plain.

manding a view
Petropolis.
visit,

2000

and a

feet

On

the east

is

the

AVestward towers a forested height, comand the mountains of

of the "Fortaleza" Rock,

It is called
fail*

above sea-level.

Alto do Imperador, after the Imperial

path winds up

it.

From

block a white thread of cascade, like the

the lower levels of this

crj'-stal

waterfall in an old

Geneva clock of ormulu, hideous mixture trends towards the
main drain. The German colony contained about 1000 souls in
!

*

The Juiz de Fora, according to Koster
chap. 4), was named by the Supreme
Govemment for three years, and appeal
(i.

VOT,.

t,

from his decisions was made to the
Ouvidor or Auditor Judge, another dignitary

now

obsolete,

K

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

50

[chap. iv.

whitewashed huts, and the inmates appeared poor and discontented.
In June, 1867, the Practical Agricultural School* seemed in no
hurry to he finished. I have since that time been informed that
the establishment has been completed, that stock has been imported, and that all is in the finest working order.
The station where we lodged prides itself on having nothing to
do with the " old toAm." It contains, besides the chateau on the

and the

hill

smaU inn and
salt

and

two or three tolerable houses, a
negro quarters, and huge stores where the

chalet, a chapel,
stables,

coffee are lodged.

mixture of misery and splendour. Minas,
it must be remembered, is one of the three provinces not directly
Sao Paulo is her progenitor, and the
colonized from Portugal

The

city is the usual

:

son cannot yet boast of being better than the

muddy

sii-e.

Juiz de Fora

which
palms are planted in pairs. Its sole merit is its breadth, and
when tramways shaU be introduced by some Brazilian *' Train,"
this good disposition will be recognised. The trottoii* is a jumpery,
and the stranger hoppmg over the pavement seems to be pracThe dwellings are low and poor, mostly
tising "bog-trotting."
" door and window " as the phrase is. Amongst them, however,
is

a single dusty or

street, or rather road, across

i"

and roomy town houses, with gilt pineapples on the roof,
glass balls on the French balconies, fantastic water-spouts, pigtailed corners, birds of tile and mortar disposed along the ridges,
and aU the architectural freaks of Rio de Janeiro. Here the wealthy
during the Saturday evenmg we saw
planters gather together
large parties of friends and famihes, men, women, and children
are large

;

;

negroes, negresses, and negrets, coming in to church.

Not

a little

done on these occasions there are men who gamble like
Rooshuns, as they were called at the Old
Cocoa Tree and the year's profits from coffee and cotton are not
unfrequently ckopped at Monte or Yoltarete. In Paris Baccarat

play

is

:

Poles and Russians

—

does

—

it.

Very mean

The

are the public buildings.

* Paragi-apli 4, condition 2 of the contract dated Oct. 29, 1864, insisted upon
the establishment of this " Escola pratica

de Agricultura," by the " Union and Industry Company. " These sensible institutions are gradually extending along Eastern
Brazil, and one of them will do more good
than all the colleges which anniially turn

prison would not

out npou tlie world a Iningry swarm of
young " Doctoi-s, " LL. Ds. Tliey will be followed, and it is to be hoped soon, by Schools
at present the sons of the Gold
of Mines
and Diamond Empire must go to Europe
;

for study.
e janella," meaning a ground
with a single door and mndow.

f "Porta
floor

;

CHAP.

AT JUIZ DE FOE A,

IV.]

51

hold a London housebreaker for a quarter of an hour.
lectoria,

mto which

The

the provincial revenue is paid, looks small.

Matriz of Santo Antonio, at the bottom of a dwarf square,
tolerable order, but the chapel

tumble-down condition.

on the

Here we

hill is towerless

Col-

The
is

in

and in

see for the first time the tall

black cross of Minas, introduced probably by the Italian missionaries,

and recalKng

to

mind Norman France

;

it is

garnished with

—ladder, spear,

sponge, crown
and a peculiarly wooden cock.
The day after our arrival, Sunday, was one of absolute rest.
The station boasts of a neat chapel, unusually clean and free
from tawdry ornament. The inside has a plam altar and benches
of polished wood, a pictm-e of the Assumption, and three candles
on each side of a silver crucifix. There is no squatting on the
floor, which is, moreover, closed to dogs, and does not require
all

the instruments of the Passion

of thorns,

hammer,

nails, pincers,

may observe, is a popular habit in
United States. Most men do it instinctively
some, as they whistle, for want of thought others, because they
Expectoration, I

spittoons.

the Brazil as

m the

:

;

consider

it

sanitary, think thereby to preserve a spare habit of

promote appetite or drinketite. My conclusion
natural, so to speak, and refraining from it
is artificial, a habit bred by waxed parquets and pretty carpets.
The most agreeable part of the day was spent in the chateau
garden and grounds. I had before met the owner, Commendador
Mariano Procopio Ferreira Lage; during my second visit he was
once more in Europe. In 1853 he organised the Uniao and Industria Company, of which he is still the hard-workmg chairman
body, or hold

is

it

to

that spittmg

is

he made Juiz de Fora a

city,

the chapel was arranged by him,

the chalet was his property, and he had laid out an arboretum

and orchard upon what was twelve years ago a bog on the right
bank of the Parahybuna.
Our fastidious English taste could find no fault in house or
were a Httle fantastic, the contrast with
Nature was somewhat too violent an Italian villa-garden in a
vu-gin forest is starthng.
The chateau, which cost 30,000L or
grounds, except that

tliej'

—

much colour and too many medallions behind
an ugly bridge leading to a prim summer-house,
both of cast iron, and the former pamfully like a viaduct. The
little lake, with bamboo-tufted islets, dwarf Chinese bridges, and
40,000Z., has too

it,

;

too, there is

paddled boat, worked by negroes instead of steam; the "Grotto
E 2

—

!

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

52

[chap. iv.

of the Princesses," the grotesque seats and arhours, and the rustic

and the

figures of wood, are a trifle too artificial,

Ema*

and

stags,

not pacing over the park, hut caged along with monkeys and silver
The European and tropical
pheasants, suggesting a menagerie.

and we measured an arum-leaf
its English representamaculatum, or cuckoo plant, whose berries

plants, however, were magnificent,

What

5 feet 4 inches long.
tive,

the httle

Arum

a contrast to

poison small children

We wandered

about the orangery, which was innocent of glass,

and found out the favourite trees;! we lay

for hours

upon the grass

eating the Tangerines, enjojing the perfumed shade of the myrtles,

and admiring the young AVellingtonias and screwpines. Mr. Swan
by the Commendador to

related to us the grand reception given

Professor Agassiz, the

wrote

man

of

whom

prophetic

Spenser surely

:

wliat an endless task has he in hand,
WTio'd count the sea's abundant progeny,

Whose

fruitful seed far passeth that

and the " Empassing en route the Hotel

Wlien surfeited with the view of the
peror's Height,"

we

ch-ove to the city,

on land.

waterfiill

Gratidao, by which probably no guest Avas ever rendered
festival of its

Europe

*

The South

for

m connection with pigs.
young women, and

American

Ostrich (Rhea americana).

or

three-toed

weighs from
fifty to sixty pounds, and is thus about onethird smaller than the two-toed African,
that largest of known birds, and it wears
a dull grey, half-mourning dress, which
has been till lately neglected by the trade.
lu the province of Rio Grande the word
" Avestrus, " properly the African ostrich,
is used.
"Ema" is a con-uption of the

.,.„,,,,,
Neamah (^U),

Arabic

It

^

yet

even

^,

the

accurate Southey (vol. i. chap. 5, p. 1 29)
and Gardner, to say nothing of the vidgar
herd, have corrupted it to "Emu."
The
aborigines of the Brazil called it " Nhandu "
<'r"Nhundu. " According to Prince Max.
(iii.
12), the Brazilians also know it as
louyou," and Southey adds, " Churi "
(i.
I have not heard either
8, 25.3).
of these words, which are pure Guarani.
+ I know no oranges better than the
,

,

known

Padroeiro or patron saint, Santo Antonio,

cluefly

husbands

find

truly

Juiz de Fora was in gorgeous array, this being the

thankful."

to

*'

if

Here

it is

his duty to

he does not he

Brazilian.

The

tree,

is

slapped

however,

i.s

very

uncertain, and the same shoots planted in
the same soil produce a very different fruit,

Each Province has

its

own,

as, to

quote no

others, the Selectas of Rio de Janeiro

and

the Bahian Embigudas, which ladies call the
" Naval " orange. The most common is the
Laranja da China, which extends nearly
along the coast and far into the interior.
We shall pass through places on the Rio de
Sao Francisco where it will not thrive.

pj^^^^ mentions two sub-varieties

of this

Chinese orange, one of redder tinge, outside
and inside, than the other. Sao Paulo is
remarkable for its " Tangeriiias, " a name
popularly derived from Tangiers
they
resemble the small mandarins of China,
but they are not so delicate.
There are
two varieties, the pequenas and the grandes,
;

and

Pizarro

distinguishes

three

sub-

which he calls, "da China, da
India, and da Terra, orBoceta."

varieties,

AT JUIZ DE

CHAP. IV.]

FUPvA.

53

well, and made to sleep in the chill night air.
The peal of ^^hells was well-nigh worn out by hard hammering.
The Matriz was a Black Hole of worshippers, the flower of the

and clucked in the

flock being in the tribunes

strangers.

"

filleth

"

The son

and

j^rodigal of smiles to the couthless

of the quarter," sa3's the Arabic proverb,

not the eye."

At Juiz de Fora

I met the Commendador Henrique Guilherme
Fernando Halfeld, of whom more in the next volume. He gave
me some information about the Rio de Sao Francisco, and told
me when takmg leave of us that he, aged seventy- two, was about
to marry a young person of sixteen.
May the result be satisfactory

!

—

.

CHAPTER

V.

FROM JUIZ DE FCRA TO BARBACENA.*
"

A

partir de Juiz de

Fora on ne trouve

pliis

qu'un cliemin inegal, aux pentes

inadmissibles, dans lequel, pendant la saison des pluies, on pent h peine circuler
h cheval, et avec la condition de mettre bientdt son animal hors de service."
jif,

Liais.

The next cla,y (Monda}', June 17, 1867) witnessed the break-up
of a pleasant party, and our farewell to " comforts " for a season.
Mr. L'pool determined to accompany us northwards, Major and
Mr. Newdigate Avith Mr. Morritt tend to the south. At noon
we shall be sei)arated b}' a centmy of miles, something of a consideration in the Brazil, where men move slowly.
We are also to
lose Sr. Francisco Alves Mah'ero, the cashier of the " Union and
Industry Company," who, on his sole responsibility and with true
New- World go-a-head liberality, had franked us to Barbacena.
At 6 A.M. on a raw, dark morning, the two coaches, duly
packed, stood side by side fronting ojDposite ways, and ready to
start at the same moment.
Presently Godfrey, a stout young
German, ex-sailor, from the then jeoj^ardied Duch}^ of Luxemburg, handled the ribbons, and with a blast of the horn and
waved hats we dashed at the Ava}'. Our light, strong mail,
*'
O Barbacenense," was full. The insides were a Brazilian lady
with two black gu-ls, the normal two black babies, plus an
Austrian ex-lieutenant, married and settled in the interior the
;

*

The

stages are approximately
1
Juiz de Fora to Saudade
:

2.

Saudade

3.

Estiva to Chapeo d'Uvas

to Estiva

....
....

...

miles.

Chapeo d'Uvas to Pedro Alves
Pedro Alves to Joao Gomes
6. Joao Gomes to Jose Roberto
9
7. Jose Roberto to Nascimeuto Novo
8
8. Nascimento Novo to Registro
8
9. Registro to Barbacena
4
Total, 63 miles in 9 hoiu-s and 5 minutes
the regulation speed
hour upon the good parts of the road, which are few and far between.
4.
5.

.

.

.

.

.

.

h.

1

;

55
45
25
30

115
2

...
....
.

m.

035

6
10
4
10
4

.

is

15
50
35

twelve miles per

—

;

FROM JUIZ UE FORA TO BARBACENA.

ciiAr. v.]

55

outsides behind were our two negro servants and a large collec-

We

tion of small baggage.

sat in the rear of the driver

and the

packed between us in case of a " spill."
The first lot was poor land, and the line lay up the riverine
plain, at times cuttmg across a high liill-sj)ur that projected into
the valley. The early world looked pale white with hoar frost
the effect arose from the velvety down of the well-known gramen,
Capini Gordura,* the "grass of fatness," so called because the
blades feel greasy and viscous. It Avas x^urple with flower and
seed, and at once suggested stock breeding, but it will dry up in
then the troop mules will
a few weeks and become poor forage
rank it amongst
of
trash.
Botanists
all
manner
devour
suffer, and
guard, with

my

Avife

;

the plants which follow the footsteps of
roads,
forest,

it

occupies the ground

and

it

when

man

it

;

covers deserted

cleared

freshly

allowed to

takes possession of fields

of vu'gin
lie

fallow

two successive harvests.
According to St. Hilaire the " ambitieuse graminee " is not
indigenous, and the people told him that it was a present from the
for the five years that usually follow

Spanish colonies. They have now forgotten its foreign origin.
The land is rising rapidly, the receding woods become less
dense, and the delicate " cabbage palms " t, with other growths
Air and soil are too
of the Maritime Range, disappear.
cold for coffee and sugar, except a

raised for

trifle

home

con-

sumption in the Quintal or sheltered and often manured courtvegetables and
yard.
Eice and maize, however, are good
tobacco flourish every hut has its floor for drying beans buckwheat, rye, and hops would doubtless everywhere be at home
except upon the bald polls of the disforested hills and, in the
bottom lands, cotton might be grown to advantage. So rich is
;

;

;

;

the Brazilian

even in

soil,

its

poorer phases.

* Tristegis glutiuosa, or Melinis minuticalled Capiiu
(Palis.)It is also

folia

Catinga or of fetor, its peculiar odour
being sxipposed to resemble that of the
negro.
I did not find it unpleasant.
St.
Hilaire, who has given an ample account of
III.
223
the grass (I. i. 195
i.
;

and in III. ii. 29, 31, 5-4, and
175), makes Capim Catinguero the same as
Capim Gordura and the Capim Melado
("honied gi-ass ") of Rio de Janeiro and S.
Paulo.
He found it called Capim de Frei
5,

Luiz, the religious who introduced it with
his name
a view of benefiting the country
;

is

now

forgotten.

According to Martins,

one of the Cyperaceas, the
hold Capim
Brazilians
Catinga to be the youug Capim Gordura.
Gardner (475-7) observed that north of
south latitude 17° it grows near houses
onlj'.
I see no reason why this gi-ass
should not make excellent hay.
+ Euterpe edulis, in Tupy Assahi or

Capi-Catinga

The

Assa'i.

long, green,

the

cylindrical spike or footstalk,

and succulent, which contains

rudiments of

cabljage.

embryo
best.

is

Some

sedges.

;

future

Many palms
in the

leaves,

is

the

yield this edible

Brazil the Euterj)e

is

the

a

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

56

We

L^hap. v.

miss the neat Swiss Gothic stations with their

fancj''

gahles

and iron roofs painted red. At Saudade (why call it " Desiderium?") we find an old tiled ranch, or shed, with nothing to
recommend it but a semicii'cle of fine coqueiros.* Presently we
crossed for the last time the Parahybmia River, whose valley ran
uj) to

the

Though

left.

there were

pretty

bits

the soil did not improve, the %iews did
of

"home

Animal
spreads

life

its

grassy hills Avith

scenery,"

graceful rounded curves, and theii* gi'oves of

pahn and other

trees.

now became more conspicuous. The Urubii vulture

wings to the rising sun; the Caracara buzzard (Falco

crotophagus or F. degener or F. brasiliensis, the Chima-chima of
Azara) perched

lilie

Maina upon the backs of

the Indian

kine, or trotted after them, pecking at the ticks

bh-d of prej',

gi'azing

this singular

revered by the Guaycuru Indians, was evidently
" Maria preta " ^black Maria

—

rendering an interested service.

kind of widow

;

—

and snow, flashed across the i^ath
from holt to holt. The Jape, or hang-nest, and the brilliant violet
oriole (Oriolus violaceus) trotted about, whilst the merlo or blackbird (Turdus brasiliensis) and the Sabiii thrush (Turdus rufiventris),
that Brazilian nightingale of the flute}' song, chanted their matins
with a will. Troops of the glancing purple-green, black, and greywhite " anum," f chattering lilve starlings, shunned the trees as is
their wont, balancing themselves on the elastic shrub tops.
The Cui)im-nests, t or termitaria, are lumpy pillars and pyramids
of clay, 3'^ellow or drab coloured, as may be the subsoil, and sometimes 5

finch, in sable

or 6 feet high.

They

are scattered

lilve

occasionall}' in pairs or trios, as if a succursale

often

shaped suggestively to a pious Hindu

:

tombstones,

had been added,
nowhere in the

Brazil, however, do they constitute so conspicuous a feature, or

cumber the land as in the Somali countr}'. The mounds near the
road appear to be deserted, and some suppose that the ''white
ants" abandon their homes when made, Avhich
* Not "Cocoeiro," as Professor Agassiz
it.
The Cocos biityracea, one of the
finest palms in the Brazil, was seen throughout the interior when I visited it, till the
Camauba palm (Copemicia cerifera) took its

lias

place.

it

is

is

absm'd.

the Pirigua of Azara, and

;

is

said to

have reached the coast from the Highlands,
The large variety is the Crotophaga major
(Linn.).

+ Properly Co-pim, from co, a nest, cave,
and pim, to sting, a sting, dart, iron
point.
Hence the error of M. de Suzannet,
whose bird " Coupy " is the termite: in
places it builds round the tree trunks and
Ijranches clay nests which look like gigantic

hole,

+ In the plural anuns. The word has
been much abused, tui-ned into anuh, annu,
and so forth. The black anum is the Crotophaga ani (Prince Max). The white is the
Cuculus Guira (Linn.), or spotted cuckoo

Opened

wens.

Azara also writes Cupiy.

"

FROM

(H.vr. v.]

they suggest a

.lUlZ 1)E

FOKA TO BARBACENA.

mammoth hotel as Asmodeus would

see

57

it,

and a few

blows with a pick upon the hard crust of those which seem

stiff

from their burrows a frantic SAvarm as the
would show at the cr}' of fu'e. The Cupim does little
the farmer, and has foes innumerable, especially the

to be in ruins, brings

said hotel

injury to

Myothera, the prairie wood-i)ecker (Picus campestris), the toad, the
and the armadillo. Some travellers make the ant-house a menage a trois, and the same tale is
told- of the prairie dog villages. It is not, however, a happy family
lizard famil}^ the M3'rmecophaga,

be true that the toad, after eating up the ants,

if it

is

eaten by

devoured by a Siriema,* a bird whose
tastes correspond with the African " Secretary" (Gypogeranus
a serpent, and the serpent

is

wants the pens behind the ears, which made the
Dutch give the latter so literary a name. Others believe that the
young of the Cupim are carried off and enslaved, like West Africans,
africanus), but

it

by the fierce plantation ant,f which thus represents the wicked
and merciless white man. But the same tale is told of the " QuemQuem " ant, and possibly the superstition may have arisen from the
different sizes of the workers major and the workers minor.
The road, tolerably good for the Brazil, is execrable compared
with the first day's line. In many places it is double or treble.
These " deviations " X denote muds worse than those of a Cheshire
lane.
The surface is now hard and caky about December it
will be cut up by the regular tramping of the " boiadas " or
droves of market cattle, into a '' corduroy," a gridiron of ruts and
These " chaulridges, locally called caldeiras or " caldeiroes." §
;

drons," horrible to Brazilian travellers, consist of raised lines,

narrow, hard and slippery, divided by parallel hollows of soppy,
treacly

clay

;

in

the latter mules sink to the knee or to the

shoulder, their tall-heeled shoes are often lost, and at times

a

hoof remains behind. Old and wary beasts tread in the mud,
not on the ridges, which cause dangerous falls. The cure would
be deei>trenching to drain the " chauldrons," bush clearing to
*

The Siriema (Dicolophus cristatus,
Palamedea cristata, Gmelin) will be

Illiger

;

repeatedly mentioned in the second volume.
It is about the size of a small turkey, for
which it is often mistaken it runs like a
young ostrich it goes generally in pairs,
and it builds in low trees. Its "bell-note"
is not unpleasant, and it is easily tamed.
Others suppose the Termitarium liird to be
;

;

a kind of owl (Strix cunicularia, or Campos
owl), which is known to lay eggs in deserted
armadillo holes.
f Alta cephalotis. The Brazilians call it
Sauba, a corruption of the Tupy "Y9auba.
+ Desvios.
§ The holes made by the waves in the
coast rocks also have this name.

—

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

58

BIIAZIL.

[chai-. v.

admit the great engiiieers Sun and Wind, and in extreme cases

down logs across the mud. At present the forest presses
upon the roads because travellers prefer riding in the shade. It
moreover, I never
is easy for them to choose the cool of the day
felt the least inconvenience, even from a " chimney -xjot," in the
and, finally, the Brazil, lilce Western Africa
heat of noon
probably for the same reason is remarkably free from sunstroke.
laying

;

;

—

"work

But

in this stage of societ}^, to

man

exceedingly, and the real Portuguese of the old school would

others"*

for

rather want than do anything incidentally

lilcely

stultifies

a

to supply the

wants of his neighbours.
We are upon the highway between the metropolis of the
Empire and the Capital of the Gold and Diamond Province. In
the rainy season, from November to April, the sloughs take oif

The annual

the coach.

The

repair

cost of

is

300^^000 per league.

zelador or cantonnier, however, expects everywhere in the

Brazil to draw pay and to do nothing, save perchance to vote.

He

is

Upon

equal to an}^ amount of " drawing," but do he will not.
this

whole

line,

where there

is

not a single rood that does

not m-gently requii-e a large gang, we found a single negro lad
scratching his head, and sometimes tickhng the ground with a hoe.

Throughout the Empii-e these

lines of

communications are

divided into Imperial, Provincial, Municipal, and between three

such stools accidents are ever happening.

made the concession

is

When

a route

is

to be

granted sometimes in payment for poli-

who lays it out well or ill, as the
then thrown open to the public, and is left to

tical services to the applicant,

may

case

be

It is

be.

When worn down

sj)oiled.

rock-ladders, rut-systems,

—then, possibly, may be

bogged and

die

road a new

luie,

the same.

who

travel

to the bone, and converted into
and quagmire-holes, where beasts are

whose

fate, in

built alongside of the old

com*se of time, shall inevitably be

Often my Brazilian friends have remarked that men
by such weary ways need no future process of punish-

ment.

Of

com'se, after living three years in the Brazil, I

difficulties of

road-making.

The

Africa clothes Earth's skeleton
Trabalhar para os oiitros. Every school
Empire should pnt up the motto of
the Free Cantons
in the

" Each

for

all,

and

all for

each

;"

know

the

pasty red clay Avhich here as in

demands metalHng

if

the line

is to

and borrow a few Gaelic maxims, "One and

"Union is strength," "I care for
everybody, and I hope everybody cares for

all,"

me."

—

"

FllUM JUIZ

riixv. v.]

and macadamizing

})K

FulLl TO BAKBACEXA.

59

an expensive process, requiring conand brooks are not those of a " wellregulated country " like England they shrink to nothing, they
swell into immense torrents, and the cost of bridging and controlling them is no trifle. Popular opinion, by no means thoroughly
awake to the importance of highways and byways, is another
obstacle many think that a good road is that which enables you
Their fathers have done without
to ride your mule comfortably.
straightening
then- paths
ergo, so can
mending their* ways, and
last,

The

stant repair's.

is

rivers

:

;

—

they, et cetera.

These pages, however, will show that in this Empii-e, about to
be so mighty and magnificent, commmiication signifies civilizaeverything.
It is more important to
tion, prosperity, progress

—

national welfare even than the school or the newspaper, for these

where that precedes. And travellers who wish well to
must ever harp, even to surfeit, upon this one string.
After Saudade the country waxes lone. Besides a few roadside shop-sheds, wliicli sell wet and dry goods, beans, flour, and
the baldest necessaries of life, we find only two manor-houses
belonging to a landowner known as " O Mirandiio " and his sonThe monotonous thud and creak of the "Monjolo,"* the
in-law.
only labour-savmg machme bequeathed by Portugal to her big
will follow

the land

daughter, proclaims the rudeness of agriculture.!

the sHppery

cla}^,

with

its

A heavy hill

cuttings of purple, marbled or

of

mauve-

coloured ochreish earth, called in Sao Paulo " Tagua," delays the
pace and Godfrey must often " skid " and employ the x^atent
;

break as we descend.

The next

station,

" Chapeo d'Uvas,"

is

so called

from some

generous old vmeyarder who allowed the thirsty to
hats with his grapes.

A

certain

modern

fill

their

traveller related that

somewhere between this place and Curral Novo, as well as in
other wooded parts of the Brazil, there is a pigmy race about
three feet high, white as Europeans, and with hairless bodies.
Tliis suggests the Wabilikimo or " Two-cubit Men," gravely
* Or Monjdllo.
Mawe terms it Pregui^a (the sloth), and gives a drawing of
this rough water-mill, which is described
Caldcleugh calls it
by every traveller.
St. Hil. (III. i. 121, &c.)
Jogo, a game.
erroneously writes the word " Manjola. " It
appearsinBrazilian poetry, c.^r. the Parabolas
(No. 113, Wolf) of Jose Joaquim Correa de

Almeida

" Deputado
'
'

%dl comparsa
Representou de Monjolo."
The Deputy, a vile compare,
Like the Monjolo beat the air.

f ^o ^^ 1633, the first saw-mill built on
the Thames, opposite Durham Yard, was
taken down, "lest our labouring people
should want employment."

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

60

located by the " Monibas Mission

Zanzibar

and the reader

;

of the

notices

will at

[niAi'. v.

Map," within the seaboard of
once recall to mind the detailed

" Obengo " dwarfs, lately brought

home from

Ashango-land by m}^ mdefatigable and adventurous friend, Paul

du Chaillu.

Here the Caminho do Mato, the " Forest-road" from the
north-east, falls into the Caminho do Campo, the " Prairie highwhich trends to the north-west. The settlement is the
normal post-town," a single straggling street Avith a pauper
chapel it can no longer claim to be " one of the prettiest and
most civilized spots seen since leaving Rio de Janeiro." It
Avay,"

:

could hardly supply grain to our

five

beasts

;

the people raise

consumption only, and travellers carry their
own slender stores. The waggons were standing in the thoroughfare, and the fii'st glance showed Avayfarers from the United
States.
They had done what they Avould have done in Illinois
they had brought traps and teams, and they were lumbering on

enough

for domestic

towards the setting sun.

showed us " Retiro,"* a bunch of huts tenanted
by negroes, who had hoisted a black saint upon the " Tree of St.
John."
Here we first sighted the Mantiqueira Range, Avith
Avhich I had made acquaintance in Siio Paulo. I have something
It is not one line,
to say about this most interesting formation.
but a collection of systems, crystalline, volcanic and sedimentary.
Its southernmost Avail is within sight of Sao Paulo, the city,
forming the Serra da Cantareu-a, a septentrional buttress to the
Thence it runs to the east with
valle}" of the Tiete RiA^er.
northing, increases greatly in importance, and presently forms
the culminating point of the Brazilian Highlands. A little beyond

The next

this point

stage

—in

W.

long. (Rio) 1° 20'

—

it

obeys the great law of

South America, and indeed of the NeAv World generally and,
cmwing at an angle of 115°-1'20°, it becomes a meridional range,
not an east to Avest chain, as are mostly those of the so-called Old
Hemisphere. It bisects the Province of Minas upon the line of
Barbacena, Ouro Preto, and Diamantina, and it divides the
Atlantic watershed, the riverine basins of the Rio Doce, the
Mucury, the Jequitinhonha, and the mmor systems from the
;

* St. Hil. (III. i. 2.33) translates "Reby Chalet. In this part of the counti-y

tiro "
it

confounds with our "shooting box

:"

on

the Rio do Sao Francisco
other meaning,

it

will bear an-

t

FROM JUIZ DE FoRA TO BARBACENA.

CHAP, v.]

Gl

Western versant, draining the Parana, Paraguay, Plata, and the
Bio de Sao Francisco. It affects the surface ahnost as much as
do the Andes further to the Occident it arrests the rains which
flood the lands on its seaward flank it breaks up the ground, and
;

;

The

covers earth with the densest forests.

more

prairies

regular,

inland slopes are
.

abound, and the vegetation

gTamineous, and the low woods

known

is

cliiefly

in the Brazil as Caatingas

and Carrascos.* North of Diamantina it becomes the Serra do
Serra das Almas
it then forms in Bahia the
Grao Mogor
and the Chapada Diamantina, or Diamantine Plateau, after
Avhich it sillies into the broken plain on the southern bank of the
Bio de Sao Francisco. Then it extends some 860 geographical
The southern portion
miles between S. lat. 10° and 24° 20'.
runs almost parallel with and distant 30 to 50 miles from the
Serra do Mar or Maritime Baiige. About Barbacena it has already
greatly diverged, and its maximum distance from the shores of
the Atlantic may amount to 200 direct miles.
The culminating point of Mantiqueh-a and of the Brazil
;

generally
to

mean

lines

of

is the Itatiaiossu, a highly picturesque word, interpreted
the " great flamboj'ant rock," from the flame-like out-

its

three loftiest crests.

S. lat. 22° 38' 45",

and

W.

The

chief peak is

long. (Bio) 1° 30'.

placed in

The "Bevista

Trimensal" (1861), of the Bistituto Historico e Geographico
adopts the mean altitude of 3140 metres, or 10,300
Dr. Franklin da Silva Massena has reduced the estimate
feet.
to 2994 metres, and Pere Germain, of the Episcopal Seminary
of Sao Paulo, who visited it in May, 1868, increases it to 2995.
The formation is essentially volcanic, two craters and more than
Brasileii-o,

200 caves have been found in it, and the explorers met with
sulphur springs and large deposits of sulphm- and iron pyrites.
* " Caatiuga " must not be confouude^l
"Catiuga" before mentioned. The
former is derived from the Tnpy "Ctk,"
forest, bush, leaf, grass; and "tinga,"
white.
It admirably describes the scattered growth of diy clay or sandy plains,
20 feet in
gnarled trees averaging 10
height, or one-tenth of the forest-gro^\-th,
and looking pale and sickly by the side of
" Carrasco " in
the dark virgin leafage.
Portugal is a low stiif gro'wiih, and the word
is supposed to be derived from Quercus and
with.

—

rusceus, "Carvalho picante,"

The Mineiros mostly apply

it

prickly oak.

to a vegetation

scattered, stunted, ami ragged than
the Caatinga, ranging between 3 to 6 feet,
and often rich in the Mimosa dumetorum,
Both allow
a trae " Carrasquente " shrub.
the sun to penetrate through their thin
coats, and with the assistance of dew a

more

little grass

good for pastiire gi-ows about

their roots.

f The number 2994 has been adopted by
that

excellent

Brazilian

geographer,

Sr.

Pere GerCandido Jlendes de Almeida.
main found the altitude of the highest
habitation to be 1560 metres.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

62

The summits

are amiiially covered with snow,

[chap. v.

which sometimes

lies for a fortnight, and the phiins are fields of wild strawberries.
I shall have more to say upon this subject when describing the

Province of Sao Paulo.

Suffice

it

now

to

remark that

this part

of the Mantiqueira is a Sanitarium, lying at the easy distance of

three days' trip from Eio de Janeiro, \ia the

D. Pedi-o Segundo

Railway and the Valley of the Southern Parahyba.
The Abbe Cazal calls the central and symmetrical range
" SerradoMantiqueiro." Dr. Couto very properly terms it "Serra

Grande

;" its peaks,

the Itabira, the Itambe, and the Itacolumi,

exceed in height all others in the
Empire, except those visited by Gardner in the Serra do Mar near
Eio de Janeiro. The popular name which appears upon om* maps,
and which is being adopted by the Brazilians, is Serra do EspinThis generalization is, I
haco* or Range of the Spine-bone.
believe, the work of the Baron von Eschwege, who in the last
generation commanded the Corps of Imperial Engineers at Ouro
Preto, and who has written extensively upon the geography and
mineralogy of the country. But the so-called EspinhaQo is not
not to mention the

Itatiaiossii,

the spine of the Brazil generally, although

it

may

be that of

Minas Geraes. A nearer approach to a true Charpente dorsale
would be the Ranges da Mantiqueira, dos Vertentes, and da
Canastra the Mata da Corda and the great ridge to the west of
the Rio de Sao Francisco, known to maps as the Serra da Tiririca
and da Tauatinga.f North of S. lat. 11° it forks into the socalled Serra da Borborema, trending to the north-east and the
;

Serra dos Ceroados, diverging to the north-west.
The word " Mantiqueii-a," also written and

pronounced
" Mantiguira," is still unjudged.
Usually it is translated
" ladi'oeii-a," robbery, and is supposed to be local patois.
Some
derive it from " Manta," a (woollen) "cloak," and figuratively a
In the early half of the present

"trick" or "treachery."

* Not "Sien-a Espenlia90 " (Herscliel,
Physical Geography, 292).
+ Often and eiToneously written Tabatinga," which would signify literally the
white wigv\'am, and which the Dictionaries
'

'

render by "smoke." The Tupy "taud"
seems to be the same word as " tagua " or
" tagoa, " which Figueira translates " ban-o
Termelho " red argil whilst "tinga" is
white.
It is a pure \Ahite, or slightly yellow kaolin, sometimes mi.xed -ndth sand

—

;

;

Init

more often pure, the degradation of
and it has been mistaken by

felspar,

when limestone is
chalk
used as whitewash. The
be the "wunder
it
to
older writers define
erde " of Saxony, a hardened, argillaceous
lithomarge. In 1800, a certain Joao Manso
Pereira made, we are told, works of art
from the material found at the Lagoa de
Sentinella, near Eio de Janeiro,
foreigners for

deficient, it is still

:

FROM

cHAr. v.]

JUIZ DE FURA TO BARBACENA.

G.3

was a name of fear, as Apennines and Abruzzi are
Old travellers are full of legends about its banditti,
and mule-troopers still shudder at the tales told around their
The Thugs used to lasso their victims and cast the
camp-fires.
duly
plundered of diamonds and gold dust, into the
corpses,
"
canons " and ravines there is a tradition that one of
deepest
these Golgothas was discovered by a fast-growing tree Avhich bore
The guard assured me that when the
a saddle by way of fruit.
The
last road was made, treasm-e was found in several places.
most noted bands in late years were headed by a certain SchinChefe Guimaraes," a "highly respectable" Portuderhans, "
guese of Barbacena about 1825 he and his familiar friend, the
Another actor in the
gipsy Pedro Hespanhol, died in jail.
tragedy was the Padre Joaquim Arruda, a rich man and well
centuiy

it

even yet.

:

:

connected in this part of the Province. The fidus Achates, who
everj-where stood by his Fra Diavolo, was one Joaquim Alves
Saiiio

Cigano Beiju, or Gipsy Manioc
Rue " (Ruta graveolens ?) came in

Beiju, properly called

The Eeverend
1831 to a bad end after some seven years of successful villany
aided by his gipsy, he escaped from prison, hid himself in a cave
near S. Jose de Parahyba, and was shot down by the detachment
*'

Cake.*

;

that pursued him.

But " Mantiqueii'a

now shorn

of its terrors, and very
summits which meet our sight. At
its base we fuid the Half-way House, " Pedro Alves," where
"
''
blessed pullets and fiit hams
the normal breakfast, not, alas
awaited us. I will at once observe that neither gourmand nor
gourmet should visit the South American interior, especially the
Highlands of the Brazil.
Refreshed with the " quantum interpellat," such as it was, we
dashed dovsai a steep, wmding hill, where Godfrey remembered a
broken arm and the guard two fractured ribs. Every hollow in
the road made our vehicle buck-jump like taking a brook, and
the swmg and sway and the heaving to and fro as we rounded the
corners equalled any Brighton coach in the early days of railways.
The high wind prostrates bamboos near the road, and the wicked
" is

beautiful are the slate-blue

!

* Tlie gipsies of

nnmerous

t'ae Brazil,

in Minas, take their

food, birds

and

beasts, trees

wlio are

still

names from
and flowers.

Koster explains " Cigano " as a coiTuption

sjnionymous witli
English residents of
long standing ignoi'e the existence of gipsies
in the Brazil.
of Egj^i^ciano

"Gitano. "

;

in fact,

Many

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

64

BRAZIL.

[chap. v.

mules gave us tlie worst taste of their quality. We crossed
the Rio do Pinho, one of the headwaters of the Rio das Merces
da Pomha, which feeds the Lower Parahyha, and drains the
At the foot of the latter is the little
Eastern Mantiqueira.
countrified town " Joiio Gomes," Avith palra-groAm square, crossfronted clnu'ch, and Hotel da Ponte.
little

As we near
said to rain

the ascent water hecomes again plentiful
or to

drizzle every second

day.

here

;

it is

This Brazilian

Westmoreland sucks dry the sea-born clouds, and does its best to
make the Far West an arid Avaste. After sundiy preliminaries
of subrange and outlying buttress, we breast the slope that
M. Liais
measures about four miles and occupies an horn*.
prematurely wrote, " les ingenieurs de la Compagnie Union et
Industrie ont trouve un bon passage dans la Serra da Mantiqueira," but he confesses to not having seen
easterly, fronting the weather,

it.'

and exposed to the

The

facing is

full force of

the

north-eastern and south-eastern Trades, Avater-logged from the
Atlantic.

command

HoAvever, the Commission lately sent under

John Whittaker, C.E., has found a pass of easy
gradients and Avithout the main fault of the present seaAvardof the late Mr.

fronting line.

Gneiss and granite, thickly banded with veins of clear and
The sm-face was the
quartz, composed the under strata.

smoky

usual rich red clay, ferruginous with degraded mica and felspar ;
the cuttings showed boulders and "hard heads," peeling hke the

Greenstone blocks api)eared, especially upon
When the sun shone, minute
rising gi'ound, but not in situ.
fragments of silvery mica sparkled Avitli a wonderful glitter.
coats of an onion.

Caldcleugh

found

near the summit

betAveen Avhich aiul the

new

the Brazil are, I believe, mostly found.

we

the

old

red sandstone,

red, the carboniferous formations of

This Avould argue that

are noAv west of the great coal formation, Avhicli has been

traced Avitli intervals betAveen Bage of Rio Grande do Sul (S.
31° 30') and the Province of Pernambuco (S. lat. 8° 10).*
this be the case, the country betAveen the Mantiqueira

lat.

If

Range and

the coast line must be explored for carbonic deposits.

The deep mud,

stick}- as coal tar,

* I do not pretend to fix the limits, the
in the text have already supplied

23°

specimens.

M. Charles Van Lede (De

la

and engulfing our

AA'heels to

Bruxelles, 1843,
Colonization an Breisil.
chap. 10) has well described the coal mines
of Santa Catharina.

";

CHAP,

FROM JUIZ DE FORA TO BARBACENA.

v.]

G5

all the men, who tried some short cuts and
As we ascended, two crystal streams gushed

the hub, dismounted
suffered accordingly.

out of the clay scarps on our right, and had been converted into

some

fountains by

who probably knew what thirst
man and beast. At the summit we

charitable soul

and who pitied thirsty
waded through a pool of slush, and the team

is,

now taken

out of

it

and be thankful

We

are

now

at

all

the kick was

with quivering flanks, streaming

An

ojiportune rock slab invited us to

skins and prone muzzles.
rest

—

—halted

for the

panorama.

the eastern culminating plateau-point of the

Brazilian Highlands, and from this radiate the headwater valleys
of the Parahyba do Sul, the Rio Doce, and the Parana, which
becomes the mighty Plata. Below us lay the land mapped out
into an infinity of feature that ranged through the quadrant from
south-east to south-west. There was the usual beautiful Brazilian
perspective, tier after tier of mountain, hill, hillock, rise, and
wavy horizon, whose arc was dotted with the forms familiar to
Rio de Janeiro sugar loaves, hunchbacks, topsails, and parrots'beaks.
The clothing of the earth was " Capoeira," or secondgrowth forest*, so old that in parts it appeared almost virginal

—

the

were black-green, light-green, brown-green,

colours

green, blue and azure in regular succession, whilst

blue-

the cloud-

patches gathering before the sim mottled the landscape with a

marbling of shade

—

travellers from the temperates prefer this
mixture of grey to the perfect glory of the day-god.
On the
*

As

Brazil,

Intertropical Africa so in the
virgin forest is filled, a

in

when the

more

shrubby and of
herbaceous than
ligneous, takes its jjlace.
The eye soon
learns to distinguish between the two, and
no Brazilian farmer ever confounds them.
The virgin is darker, and more gloomy;
there is less imdergrowth, the ground is

different

lighter

gi'owth,

colour,

rather

cleaner, and the llianas are lai-ger, more
numerous and more iiseful. The wood that

has

and

s'irginity is far richer in flowers

lo.st its

Orchids and Bromelias. Some
botanists believed that the germs were
hidden for countless centui-ies in the soil
others that the seeds are transported by
wind and the animal creation, which appears more probable.
This second growth
is called "Capoeira," and when old " Capoeirao," an incrementative form
Capoeirinho means that it is young.
It is said
that after many years the characteristic
vegetation of the virgin forest re-appears
fruits, in

;

;

'

;

VOL.

I.

oifer upon the subject.
The word "Capoeira" is derived from
"
"
" Capao (pilural,
Capoes "), a corruj)ted
Tujoy word.
In Portugal it means a cajjon
in the Brazil it is derived fi'om Caa-poam,
a bush island, either on hill or plain
"Ca^," a bush, and "po^m" or "puam,"
from "apoam," subs, and adj. a globe, a
ball, an island, also round, swelling.
It is
admirably descriptive of the feature which
in classical Lusitanian is termed ilha de
in French, bouquet
mato, mouta or moita
de bois and in Canadian English " motte.
Thus "Capoeira" is opposed to mata,
matagal, mata virgem, mato virgem, and
This would be litein Tupy to Caa-ete.
rally the " very " or "the virgin forest,
being a particle which augments
ete
and prolongs the signification of its substantive, as Aba, a man, Aba-ete a true or
Caa-ete undergoing slight altegreat man.
rations, as Caethe, Caith^, and so forth, is
I

have no opinion to

;

;

;

;

'

'

'

the

'

name

of

many

Brazilian settlements.

F

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

66

[chap. v.

south-west a long high wall of light plum-colour, streaked with
purple and capped with a blue-j^ellow sheet, which might be grass
This is the Serra da Ibitipoca*, a
or stone, fixed the glance.
counterfort of great " Mantiqueira," trending from north-north-

On

south-south-west.

east to

m

a lakelet,

and

common

in the

the lakelet

its

summit there

The mountain

fish.

Highlands of the Brazil

they

;

is,

the}'

sa}',

tarns are very

nia}^

be met with

even on the blocks that rise from the Maritime lowlands, t
I pushed on, determined to spare the mules, and reached a
dwarf basin, where dark mica slate and tufaceous formations

announced a change of country.

Obiter,

may be remarked

it

is

rich in turbaries, which have never yet been

As

the turf

that the Brazil

must go through
and the late Mr.
Ginty, C.E., of Eio de Janeu-o, took out a patent for working
the beds. At this place, 4000 feet above sea level, a ragged
hut protected a few roadside squatters I from the burning sun and
used for

fuel.

is

mostly modern,

a certain process, especially of compression

the biting wind.
soil

was

still

A

it

;

short slope led to the gi'eat descent.

The

deep black earth, decayed vegetable matter, the dust of

In the rains it becomes a tenacious
clay, which severely tries our
trusty EngHsh coach-springs.
Half-way down hill I found what
suggested the wooden cart of Northumberland in the middle of
extinct forests forming peat.

mire, in the dries

the last century.

a

It

stift'

cakey

had ten

j'oke of oxen,

and the men, armed

with the usual goads, huge sj^m'-rowels at the end of perches ten
feet long,

had spent the day

dry

The new mules kept up a hand
pretty "venda" in a dwarf plain

a lea-land.

mento," a

and lashmg the

in pricking, cursing,

laggers over the one league up the Serra.
At " Jose Roberto " the road became

;

we are now in
gallop to " Nascior hollow, bright

greenest gTass, tall waving Coqueiro pahns, and the

with the

glorious mauve-pink bracts of the Bougainvillea§ (B. brasiliensis)

which in
*

Mmas

My

becomes a

tree.

informant explains this to mean
" it ends " (tipoca). The
derivation appears fanciful.
"Iby" as a
rule means "earth," Iby-tira a serra or
mountain range, and Iby-tira cua, a valley.
Poo means to burst.
'
t For instance, Itabaiana in Sirgipe,
the Monserrate hills behind Santos, Sao
Paulo, and in various mountains of Minas

"here"

(iby)

;

which will be mentioned.
We remember
the Witch's Well that never dries on the
gi-anitic Brocken or Blocksberg, the highest
point of the North German Hartz.
t "Moradores," literally dwellers.
§ The Prince Max. wi-ites Bugainvillea

The accurate
and Buginvilla;a (i. 58).
Gardner Bugenvillea, which mutilates not
a

little

the

name

of

the

great

circum-

CUAP.

FROM JUIZ DE

v.]

FOllA TO BARBACENA.

67

After running eight miles from the Mantiqueira crest, and at
the twelfth from our destination, we

A

" Edge of the Prairie (ground)."

found near Sao Paulo, the

city

;

make

the

Borda do Campo or

name and nature is
however, the Campo begins

similar

there,

Maritime Range, while here the Mantiqueira interI curiousty compared fii'st impressions
in Minas the
more broken into deep hollows, glens, and ravines and

close to the

venes.

:

land is
the " capoes " or patches of forest are of superior importance.
;

The minor characteristics I must
The dry season was now at its
and torpid with drowth.

faint

reserve for another Chapter.

and the country looked
caught a far sight of Barba-

height,

We

cena, with its church-towers fretting the

summit

of a high dark

ridge to the north, ah'eady piu'pliiig in the slanted rays of the

The

sun.

Sao Paulo, and we again

situation at once suggested

breathed the cool,

humid heat

clear, light air of the Plateau, a tonic after the

of the

scattered about

:

Large Fazendas lay

Mantiqueii'an ascent.

we were struck by the appearance

of those

caUed Campo Yerde and Nascimento Novo.

Our eighth team,
Eegistro YeUio.

It

fine

white mules for the run

is

the

fii'st

in,

awaited us at

of the trio which, in colonial

Minas Geraes to the
wooden
style
its ancient occupation is now gone, and it has found new
industries.
The " Gold troops " from the Anglo-Minas mines
always night here, avoiding the city streets, where they lose their
shoes and spend their money the pasture, however, is execrable.
times, awaited the hapless wayfarer from

seaboard.

The

building

is

a large white affair of a rude

;

;

The

proprietor,

travellers in his

"Capitao"* Jose Rodriguez da Costa, lodges
own independent way, turning them out if they

grumble at high charges. Before visiting the several Companies,
one marvels that the}' cannot combine to set up an estabhshment

The

of their ovm.

captain, however, is trustworthy, or rather,

being a wealth}- man, he

is

much

French colonists unaccoiintably
the beauty (E'd de Judas, and the Brazilians Porca Kota.
* Military rank is a.s common in the
Brazil as in the Far West of the Union
before the War, or in Great Britain since
the last days of the Volunteers.
Rarely it
refers to the Line
almost always to the
National Guard.
The latter, organised in
Dec. 31, 1863, consisted in 1864 of 212
superior commands, and a vast cadi-e of

trusted.

navigator.

officers, witli

call

buted into

;

595,454 rank and

file,

distri-

artillery, cavalry, infantry,

and

It formed, as in North
infantiy of reserve.
America, a curious contrast ^sdth the regular

which, till Paraguay rendered an
numbered 1550 officers
and 16,000 men, whilst the police in 18

army,

increase necessary,

not exceed 4467.
These
volumes in favour of the
orderly and law-fearing character of the

i^rovinces
figures

did

sjieak

Brazilian people.

F 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

68

[chap. v.

Here is a manufactory of cigarros,* celebrated from Minas to
Eio de Janeiro. Two rooms contain the workpeople, men and
women, and there is one cutter to each half-a-dozen rollers. The
maize leaf is used instead of paper, a custom directly derived
" Apres qu'ils ont cueilli le petem"
from the aborigines.
(tobacco-leaf), f says De Lery of the Tupinambas (p. 200), " et,
par petite poignee, pendu et fait secher en leurs maisons, ils en
prennent quatre ou cinq feuilles qu'ils envelbppent dans une
mettant
autre grande feuille d'arbre en facon de cornet d'epices
alors le feu par le petit bout et le mettant ainsi allume dans leur
;

bouche,

ils

en tirent de cette fagon

la

fumee."

The tobacco

is

"pinch of snuff rolled up in a leaf" soon cakes
and must be unrolled and rerolled before it will di'aw. A large
bundle may be bought for a shilling, and yet the profits of the
strong, and the

establishment are about 160Z. per mensem.

Roll-tobacco, as a

and this is remai'kably good.
The next stage crosses the Rio do Registro Vellio, a feeder of
We are
the Rio das Mortes the River of the Murder-Deaths, t
rule, in the Brazil is good,

—

now, therefore, in the South Brazilian basin of the Parana,
Paraguay, and Plata rivers. Turning from the main road to
the right we jiass the wretched little colonj'- "Jose Ribeiro."
A landowner of that name sold the ground to the " Union and
Industry," and the latter established a settlement of Germans.

The only decent house was

that of the Director.

appeared the beginning of the end in a bittock of

macadam

laid

And now
fine

smooth

down by the Compan3\ It was like rolling over
we galloped up it with a will, the breath of

a billiard table, and

the mid- winter evening biting our faces and feet.
It was almost dark when we entered the city of Barbacena,
which looked as livel}' as a mighty catacomb, and we deposited
* The Portuguese cigaiTO is a cigarette,
the cigar (a Singhalese word) being called
" Charuto," whence our cheroot.
The tobacco plant and leaf, in the
"t"
Tupy tongue, is called petum, petume, or
pety.
Hence the corrupted popular Brazilian word "Pi tar," to smoke.
It is
ciu-ious that the Portuguese should apply
the word which Europe has derived from
the Tobago-pipe to snuif only, and reduce
tobacco to the vague generic word "fumo."
It is usually asserted that Brazilian tobacco contains, like that of the Havannah,
only 2 per cent, of nicotine, a little more
than Turkish and Syrian ; whilst that of

Kentucky and Virginia averages from 5 to 6
per cent., and the produce of Lot-et-Garonne, &c. 7 per cent. As yet experiments,

have been made, I believe, only -with that
grown about Bahia. Both in Sao Paulo and
Minas there are local varieties of the "holy
herb, " whose headiness suggests a far larger
proportion.
of the ill-omened name will
be exjilained.
Mr. Walsh (ii.
235) calls the Rio do Registro Velho, " Rio
das Mortes," which it is not, the lower
course only being thus known.
Here it
was that the well-hoaxed traveller suffered
his terrible comical fright about nothing.

+ The origin

presently

FROM JUIZ DE FORA TO BARBACENA.

CHAP, v.]

69

the old lady and her innumerable parcels, with the slave girls and

we could

stretch our cramped legs at •the
Herculano Ferreira Paes, the owner, had
unfortunately seen better days
he evinced it by giving us in
perfect courtesy, sadly misplaced, not dinner but a damnable
iteration of excuses. " The house was not worthy of us
we were
such great personages the town was so wretchedly poor the
people were such perfect barbarians." His sons M^ere palpably
above their work, they received every order under tacit protest,
and they prospected us as their grandsires might have prospected
John Mawe, who, in 1809, visited " Barbasinas." * But food
came at last, and we found even the odious Spanish wine good.
The sleeping rooms were small, the beds were grabats, the air
was nipping, and the street dogs barked perniciously. Yet we
slept the sleep of the just.
It was a weight off one's shoulders
that day of stage coaching, which had been uncommonly heavy
their moutards, before

Barbacenense Inn.

Sr.

;

—

upon the nervous
* This error

is

—

collar.

unfortunately followed by that excellent geographer,

HOW THE

—

M.

Balbi.

FUrUilE KAILROAD WILL CROSS THE MANTIQUEIRA.

CHAPTER

YI.

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.
The
The

cloiidf?,

mists, the shadows, light of golden suns,

Motions of moonlight,

all

come

hither, touch

And have an answer—hither come and

shape
In language not unwelcome to sick hearts

And

Wordsn'orth.

idle spirits.

The word Campo*
formation, however,

— camjius—
is

is fitly

translated Prairie.

The

not an elevated plain, like the " grass

seas " of the Orinoco, the irksome steppes of Tartary,

or the

great flats of Russia and Poland, dead levels of lakes and

mo-

nor in this parallel does it resemble the rolling uplands
of Kansas and the trans-Mississippian territories. In the Oriental
Brazil it is a surface of rounded summits between 300 and 600

rasses

;

feet high, generally of ungentle grade,

Cape
rift

and disposed without regu-

not in gigantic sweej^s and billows like the broad swells of

larity,

seas.

Each eminence

is

sej^arated

from

or valley, deep or shallow hollows wliich

its

neigiibour by a

may

often have been

lakes,

generally forested, and during the rains bottomed with

swamp

or stream.

In the Province of Sao Paulo the surface of

monticles has a lower profile and sometimes

falls into

the sem-

blance of a plain, whereas Minas has rarely, excej)t in her riverine
lines, sufficient level

ground

for the site of a city.

Tliis sinking

of the heights and shallowdng of the depths continue progressively

and uninterruptedl}^ through the Province of Parana, and

' In the Far West these features are called
Campos Geiaes or General Plains, often
abbreviated to "Geraes."
The word is

supposed to express their fitness for agri-

and stock-breeding in genei-al.
Another modification of the Campo is the
Taboleiro (table-ground), which when vex^
large becomes a "Chapada" or plateau.
culture

II. Chap, 8, I have distinguished
between the Taboleii-o coberto and tbe

In Vol.

The " Campina " is
formation in the Taboleiro, generally a slope towards water, where the
soil is better and the grass afi'ords supeTaboleiro descoberto.

a

little

rior forage,

;

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.

CHAP. VI.]

reaches

its

raaximum

iii

the

Pampas and Llanos,

71

the naked or

thistle-clad landes of the south.

The Campos form the

tliii-d

region of

tliis

portion of the Brazil,

lying westward of the Maritune Serra and the Beii'a-mar or coast

country.

It is a sedimentary

and

stratified plateau

2000 to 2500

subtended to the east or seaward by the great unstratiand plutonic ranges, which average in height from 3000 to

feet high,
fied

4000
7800

feet.

feet

In one place Gardner foimd the Organ Mountains
level, and thus in tliis section of the

above summit

summit

Brazil, as in Zanzibarian Africa, the

line is not in the

Moreover, the mountains do not

interior but near the coast.*

attain the altitude of those in Greece (8250 feet).

Here we enter

upon the vast Itacolumite and Itaberite formations which characmountain chains of the interior, and which stretch,
The floor is of hypogeneous cryswith mtervals, to the Andes.
taUine rocks, granite, and syenites, which in rare places protrude,
and which are mostly seen where the beds of great rivers have
Thus, to quote no other instance,
cut away the upper deposits.
in the Nile Valley, 400 miles long by 12 of breadth, granite forces
its way at the Cataracts tlu'ough the limestones and sandstones
in Unyamwezi I found enormous outcrops of Plutonic breaking
tln-ough the Neptunian rocks. M. du Chaillu (2nd Exp. chap. xv.
terize the

p. 292,) describes the

same

at "

Mokenga

" in Ishogo-land, about

150 direct miles from the West
Resting, here conformably there unconformably upon this unthe interior and
dulating basis, crystalline and stratified, both
on the coast, are, as natural gashes and artificial cuttings prove,
layers of pebbles, cliiefly quartz, now water-rounded, then sharp
African Coast.

m

and angular, Ijing in level or wavy bands and seams, as if depoSuperjacent, again, is
sited by stiU waters and by ice action.!
the deep, rich clay which makes the Brazil, like Africa, an Ophir,
* The Itatiaiossu is, a« I have shown,
but at that point
considerably higher ;
the i\lantiqiieira is also near the coast.
+ The glacialists -nill recognise in this
one of the many forms of drift phenomena.
Probably the same mil be found in the
Intertropical
Central
of
basin
great
Africa, with a tendency of glacial action
towards the Equator, and the usual reIn the Brazil the
markable continuity.
clays and marls are sometimes based upon
sand, which seems to be fi'esh from the

sea-shore,

May

not the glacial theoiy explain the

" freddo e caldo polo"
are,

I

believe,

of

Monti?

We

think that our
subordinate portion of

free

to

system, a
may have
the great stellar universe,
traversed in its vast orbit spaces where
the temperature was higher and lower
solar

than

it

of the

is

at

ecliptic,

present.

assumed

The

variations

to be one cause

of the change of climate, require

years for their completion.

25,000

a

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

72

a red

homogeneous, and

land, ochraceous, liiglily ferruginous,

sand and argile with pebbles

almost unstratified, once a paste of

and boulders

scattered

The

siliceous

surface

is

[chap, vi.

indiscriminately through the

and

argillaceous, poor

deposit.

and yellow, scanty

humus, and thinly spread with quartz and sandstones mostly
containing iron.
This formation happily secures them from the
terrible dust-storms of Asia and Africa.
The first sight of these Campos reminded me strongly of Ugogo
in Eastern Africa, the arid lea region robbed of its rain by the
mountains of dripping Usagara.
Then the analogy of the elein

Inner Africa * with the Brazilian

vated trough formation of
plateau suggested
glance at any
of the

map

The main

itself.

will

show

parallel continent is

it

—that

point

of difference is

—

the vast lacustrine region

here imperfectly represented, the
is more regular, its " continental

drainage slope of South America

basins " have no great rock fissures like the Tanganyika bed, no
vast hollows

lilve

those of the Victoria Nyanza.

arteries find in this sera

Thus

the

main

of the world uninterrupted way to the

ocean, and thus in South America, whose mountains and rivers

equal or rather excel those of

no

lakes, while

all

North America and

other continents, there are

Africa, with theii' sweet-water

inland seas and Nj'anzas, have comparatively stunted Cordilleras.

The lake in this country becomes the Pantanal or flooded Savannah,
grounds watered by inundations, and often, like Xarayis and Uberaba, mere enlargements of great rivers, tranquil and shallow sheets
where submerged bush and drowned forests form bouquets of
verdure, where the dry tracts, like the

little praii'ies

in the dark

show charming fields sprinkled with
flowers, bearing the palm and the magnolia
and Avhere floating
islands are bound together in impassable tangle with aquatic and
semi-aquatic plants, Pontiderias and Poh'gonias, Malvaceae, Convolvulacese, Portularias, tall Sacchara, and the rice known as Arroz
de Pantanal (Oryza paraguayensis) f These swamps sujipoi-t a considerable population of canoe-men, and have been sung by the
seas of the African jungle,

;

.

* M. du Chaillu found in Ashango-land,
on the West African coast, a range running
from the north-west-by-west to south-east-

upwards of 3000 feet in height,
and dividing the waters that flow to the
ocean from those trending to the interior,
and thus exactly corresponding with Usaby-east,

I also observed their continuation on
the course of the Congo River,
Those
wiiters are in error who derive
f
rice from Asia.
A species grows wild
in Central Africa as in Central South Ame-

gara.

rica.

CHAP. VI.]

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.
They form

poets of the Brazil.

73

a characteristic feature of the

central regions in Southern America.

A

which Minas

typical featm-e in these Prairie lands is that

calls

" esbarrancado," and Sao Paulo " vossoroca." *

sight

it

appears as

if

a gigantic

At
mine had been sprung.

first

It is

and an unpractised eye can hardly
The former is generally, if
and
Art.
distinguish between Nature
not always, the effect of rain-water percolating through the
either natural or artificial,

surface into a stratum of subjacent sand or other material that
forms a reservoir above the ground rock in situ. Presently the

drought creates a vacuum
and at last the hill

cavity,

;

heavy rains then choke the enlarged
undermined to the foundation, is

side,

suddenly shot forward by the water pressm-e with the irresistible
force of an eruption, leaving a huge irregular hollow cone, sometimes shallow, sometimes deep, like the crater of an extinct
Fatal accidents have happened from these earthen
volcano.

unknown to the British islands t and
1866 several houses near Petropolis were bm-ied by huge
fragments measurmg several thousand cubic feet. After the tail
a perennial stream generally issues from the water breach,
causing a long fracture of the lower level, and creating a valley
where before there was nothing but a mountain. The weather
avalanches, which are not

;

in

transforms the irregular gash into a quarry with a

cii'cular

head,

and thus in time a considerable portion of the high ground is
swept down into the hollows, which centmies will convert to
levels.

Some

of these landslips are " alive," that

process of enlargement

;

their " death " is caused

they are

by

is

to say in

known by their watery bottoms

grass, shrubs,

and

trees,

:

whose roots

and rain- dispersing heads arrest the growth.
These vast fissures, opening into highly irregular glens and
ra"STiies, have in some places made the Province of Minas a
Nothing can
succession of impasses which time only can bridge.
be more interesting to the traveller than the puckerings and the
* Esbarrancado, "broken into a prefrom Ban-anco, a precipice, a
" Vossoroca " is a local term
river bank.
for these hollows
hence the name of the
city "Sorocaba," once celebrated for its
mule fail". Caba or -aba terminal denotes
place, time, mode or iustrament.
The
common Tupy word for hole is coara
" Macaw's
(quara), as araraquara, the
cipice,"

:

hole."

f

I liave

heard of them in Ireland, where

the vacuiua or cavity is formed between
the peat surface and the gi-avelly subThe late accident at Santa
stratum.
Liicia (Naples) was also partly due to the
pressure of the sandy soil swollen by frequent rains and rocked by continual earthquakes.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

74

the vast aretes, the fantastic

spine-lLl^;e i^rocesses,

florid

[chap. vi.

sjiii-es,

and the

ornamentation of a Gothic cathech-al sprmging from the

vertical or sloping sides of these water-breaches,

whose angles are

determined by the nature of the subsoil. They are best seen
from below, and they reminded me of a section of a Deseret
" Kanj'on."
The hues too are vivid as the forms are varied all
;

the colom-s of the rainbow are there, flashing with quailz and

The

mica, the detritus of ancient rocks.

colours resulting fi-om decomj)osed metals

chromes and ochres

;

walls
:

ai*e

dark

banded with
from

puiijle,

a rich red with jjulverized sesquioxide of

and pyrites, yellow with hydrate of iron,
snowy white with decomposed felsj^ar, silver-coloured with talcose
schist, blue and violet with oxides of manganese, dark brown
with carbonized turfy deposits, charged with ulmic and humic
acids, and vai-iegated with kaohns hard and soft.*
We soon learn

iron, gi'een with copper

to distinguish the artificial featm'e.t

The

soil of the latter is

the

amiferous dark red limonite rubbish heaps and spoil banks of
pebbles and conglomerate show that the miner has been at work,
;

and frequently there are ruins of houses within easy distance.

The

vegetation of these high grassy lands

off'ers

a

wonderful

contrast to the dense forests of the seaboard and the Serra, where

may often be touched by the hand. This
singular fecundity of vegetable matter, this " plica of growth, " is

the visible horizon

I

by suggesting an excessive fertility
If he will j^enetrate into the " lush," he will

find the true roots

running along the sm-face so as to feed upon

aj^t

to deceive the stranger

and depth of

soil.

every possible inch of shallow humus, and the shallow radical disks

show that no tap-root has been able to
down into the ferruginous argile of the huge red clay heaps
and mounds, whose core of blue gneiss often lies within a few
feet of the gi'ound.
And when these trees, perhaps the produce
of a centiuy, and forced by a hot-house atmosphere, with rain and
of the prostrated giants

strike

sun ad

libitum, are once felled, they are followed, as has

* "Tlie red clay" pjairo vermelhoHn
the presence of organic matters, principally
decomposed plants, becomes black or blue,
by the partial de-oxydation of the red
peroxide of iron that passes into dai-k
peroxide.
If the red clay be in contact
with water, the peroxide changes to the
yellow hydrate, and thus under the influence of carbonic, pronounces the white

been

said,

Tauatinga.
The granite-clays, moreover,
may be Urely red, yellow, white, blue, or

and by their mixture russet or
brown." " Decomposigao dos Penedos no
Brasil." PorG. S. de Capanema. Rio, 1866.
f Esbarrancado de lavras.
+ This refers especially to the provinces
of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo,
black,

CHAP.

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.

VI.]

by a second growth of

On

yellower verdure, which at once

paler,

betrays the poverty of the
the other hand, the

75

soil.

Campo, apparently a heap

of stone

and

stunted grass, inhabited prmcipally by armadillos and termites,
is

apt to suggest the idea of stubborn

being the case.

Bayard Taylor
prairie land."

steriht3',

I have not jet seen

calls the

m

"which

from

is far

the Brazil what Mr.

" spontaneous production of forests from

Botanists and travellers, moreover, do not agree

about the original clothing of the country

some

:

believe that

it

was in old days a
The truth lies probably between the two
primaeval forest.
extremes. Doubtless, as about the Upper Congo and the Prau'ies
on the Missouri, much of this Campo-land has been forested but
the trees, especially near the towns, have been fired or felled.
Thus the rainfall, partly arrested by the weatherward Serras, has

was always barren of timber

;

others that

it

;

still further diminished
the streams, so abundant to the eastward,
have shrunk and dried up whilst the gales, finding no blocks or
The annual
screens to oppose them, have increased in violence.
bm*nings, here about August, intended to act as manure to produce a succedaneum for salt, and to promote the growth of
;

;

young pasture, destroy the soil, and leave nothing alive but the
Cerrados,* stunted and gnarled trees, with coriaceous foliage and
suberous bark, which after a course of ages have learned to
resist the flames, the sun, the rain, the cold, the dew, the frost,

the hail, the di-ought. In Piauhy and the northern provinces the
Campo is either " Mimoso " or " Agreste" comely or couthless;

—

the former has annual grasses, tender, juicy, and pliant
latter,

which

is

wiry produce.

probably a natural feature,

The

soil

is

known by

;

the

its coarse,

greatly affects the vegetation.

Often,

travelHng over the Brazilian Campo, we cross a short divide, and
find

on the farther

facies,

But

side that the

growth assumes almost a new

without difference of frontage or other apparent cause.

everj-where in the

bottoms admii-ably

Campos, however barren, there are rich
corn and cotton.

fitted for the cultivation of

* Tlie Portugaese Cerrado is a garden or
the Brazilian Cerrado (when
important called Cerradao) is defined to be
" campos cobertos d'arvoi-edo curto e
denso ;" the Spanish Chapparal, which
Humboldt derives from a tree called Chaparro ; and both are applied to the fonna-

an enclosure

;

tion of the ground as well as to the growth.
Sr. Luiz D'Alincourt (in p. 129, " Sobre
a Viagem do Porto de Santos a Cidade de
Cuyabii, " Rio de Janeii'o, 1830) writes the
word Serradao.
The two forms of the
same sibilant sound (c and s) are often used
indifferently by Portuguese.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

76

[chap. vi.

and in most of tliem Capoes* or tree clumps flourish upon the
slopes, where they are sheltered from the ^Yind and extend along
the margins of the streams. Wood, after water the settler's prime
want, will

still last

here for

many

Let us now casi a glance
the Borda do Campo.
The

generations.

it appears upon
remark is that the Campo is not
so poorly clad as the Llano, the Pampa, and especially the
it will be sufticient here to mention the most prominent
Stei^pe

at the vegetation as

first

:

types.

The Cerrados

or scrub, 10 or 20 feet high, and not unlike our

hazels and crab-apple trees and the olives of southern Em'ope,
are often Acacias and Leguminosae.
Such for instance is the
Jacaranda do Campo, a Mimosa, whose wood is little valued such
is the " Sicupira"t (Bowdichea major), a straight hard wood used
;

for axles; the

Angico (Acacia Angico), which produces catechu; and

the small-foliaged Barbatimao or Barba de

whose bark

gens, Vellozo),

whose leaves are valuable

is styptic

Timao

and rich

(Acacia adstrin-

in tannic acid,

for feeding the cantharides fly.

and
That

" antediluvian " growth, the noble and valuable Ai'aucaria
imbricata or brasihensis)

near settlements, and

where

it

is

the S. American pine,

I,

is

(A.

seen only

probably an immigrant from Parana,

forms primajval forests.

The

distorted Piqui§ (Caryocar

brasihensis) gives an oily mucilaginous fruit, contaming a chestnut

eaten in times

The

fanime.

of

Tingui

||

St. Hil.) is a useless growth, with a shapeless

(Magonia glabrata,
pendent fruit like a

huge fungus. The Pau Terra and the large-seeded Patari supply
good charcoal the bark, leaf, and flower of the latter are used
for dyeing black. The Cedro do Campo (?) and various species of
:

* The evil done by tliese Locages or
bouquets de bois is the generation of ticlis
and flies that injure cattle but this bears
no proportion to the advantages which they
:

offer.

f The name is variously pronounced according to the Syst. it is rich in stryph:

num

(astringent principle), and much used
in household medicine (JMedicina Caseira).

John Mawe and Prince Max. do not seem
have heard that this i^ine belongs to
more southerly latitudes than Minas Gferaes.
Southey says (i. 119), that the native
name is Curiyeh, with the last syllable aspirated. It is properly " curj' " or "cory,"
and enters into the word Coritiba in PaAlso the "pine nuts" are not as
ran^.

to

large

as

acorns,

+ This Araucaria must not be confounded
with the Araucaria excelsa of Norfolk

larger,

Island and the Chile pine.
Evei-y part of
it is useful, the fruit, the timber, the turpentine which has been used as incense,
and the fibre which will be used as grass
cloth.
I reserve a detailed notice of it for
my description of the Sao Paulo Province.

prefers Piqui, as

but

about three times

27) writes Pequi, but
so pronounced.
In
Tupy, Pequi means a small duck, a canneton.
Gardner has Piki, an inadmissible
form.
Gardner ^vrites Tingi, which in Portu§

St. Hil.

(III.

ii.

it

is

||

giiese

would be pronounced

Tinji.

—

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.

CHAP. VI.]

wild Psidium are also

common.

77

There are several SolanacesB

:

the Jua or Joa, vulgarly called Mata-cavallo and Rejbenta-cavallo
"
(burst-horse), whose yellow apple resembles the " wild bengan
of Africa

the Matafome,* an edible variety with red fruit; and

;

pleasant-scented Fruta do

Lobo (Solanum imdatum,

by wolves and to poison

St.Hil.), said to be eaten

cattle.

light gTeeu fruit, large as a foot-ball, is used as a detergent,

The most

as one of the ingredients of soap.

the king of the Cerrados

is

tlie

S. lycocarpum,

The
and

valuable tree and

the Aroeira (Schinus terebinthifolius,
of excessive hardness, resists

the timber

is

weather admii'ably,

and takes a

fine polish.

as epispastics, the

decoction serves to alleviate rheumatic and

or Schinus molle)

:

other pains, and the

gum rubbed on

The appearance

decay.

of red currants

is

of the tree

The

leaves are used

ropes preserves them from

when hung with

its

bunches

pleasing, but the people of the country avoid

it.

in the joints are, they say, produced

Tumours

by sleeping under
highly sensitive who pass beneath it suffer from
it, and the
this happened to the wife of one of my
swellings in the face
Unlike the true forest lands, the Serra
friends at Sao Paulo. t
and the Mato Dentro, the trees are mostly deciduous, and when

—

they are bare the aspect

The

grass, kno^vn as

When

pallens).
is,

is

that of unpleasant nudity.

is the clumpy tussicky
Barba de bode (buckgoat's beard, Chsetaria
young and green, this Stipeais eaten by cattle it

clothing of earth near the road

;

however, a sign of poor

Capim redondo and

soil that

has been

much trampled upon.

superior grasses grow in the offing, and at

Bertioga, to the south-west of Barbacena, there are, I was told,

and
The hardy
which suggest cattle breeding on a large
lucerne of the United States, the Alfafa of the Argentine Republic and of Parana, will some day be tried, and may succeed in
maldng first-rate ha}'. In the hollows we find the tall grass of

wild oats as in California, which ripen dm-ing the

rains,

scale.:}:

—

* Jua or Matafome
" kill hunger "
what Caldfleugh (ii. 208) calls Juan Matafome, and compares with a yellow gooseIn p. 210 he speaks of Mata
berry.
is

Cavallos (kill-horse) as "a small bush
like a Solanum,"
covered with berries
which it is. I am not sure that this plant
a cultivated variety of it is a
is poisonous
favourite in the Province of Sao Paulo, and
who here eat
I am told that children
what men will not have eaten the Jua.
.

.

.

;

—

—

+ The Indians used the green juice of
the yoimg branches for diseases of the
eyes.

+ Mr. Walsh (ii. 76) found that what
he supposed to be an immense flock of
sheep, "was nothing more than the wiry
tufts of a species of wild oats, whose bending heads at a distance much more resembled a feeding slieep than the barometz of
He also found
Tartary resembled a lamb. "
an Avena sterilis near S. Jose.

"

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

78

several species, called

bv the people

It appears in richer soils

St. Hil.).

[chap.

vi.

Sape (Saccharum Sape,

when overworked,

or where

The Samambaia fern also,
ground has been often fired.
which covers a large proportion of the prairies, grows under the
Most of the shrubs and smaller plants are
same conditions.
medicinal, and the people* are well acquainted with their use.
Besides the true and false Chinchonaceee, there is the Carapia,t
valuable in chest complaints it perfumes the air, as does the heathlike Alecrim do Campo (Lantana microi)hvlla Mart.), a Labiad,
which entered into *' Hungarj'^-water.''^ The Vassom*a or broom
plant (Sida lanceolata), which supplies alkali and resembles ragThe
wort, is used as an emollient in infusion and decoction.
Assa-peixe branco,§ one of the Composites, acts like chamomile.
The aromatic Yelame do Campo, "veiling of the prairie," (Croton
fulvus or campestris) is a powerful diaphoretic and resolvent
the

;

In the bushes there are many species of wild
to all.
Ipecacuanha called Poaya (Cephaelis ipecacuanha). The Labiad
known fi'om its shape as Cordao de Trade, " Friar's Waist-cord "

known

The Composite

(Leonotis nepetifolia. Mart.), is a powerful narcotic.

Carqueja (Baccharis, Nardum rusticum, INIart.), with triangular
elongated leaves and wliitish buds at the angles, is a bitter tonic,
ai'omatic

and

antifebrile,

much used

in German-Brazilian beer.

I need hardly say that nothing can be purer than

Campos

the per-

fumed air of these
monotony of a mule journey, and the European traveller in the
Tropics recovers in it all his energies, mental and physical. The
mornings and evenings are the j)erfection of chmate the nights
are cool, clear, and serene, as in the Arabian Desert without its
;

its

exhilaration combats even the

;

sand.

Nor

form and

are the praii'ies deficient in the highest beauties of

There

tint.

is

grandem* in the vast continuous ex-

* It is the fashion to deride the " Ciiranyet
dciro " or simple doctor of the Brazil
from the days of Pison's IMarcgiaf he has
taught the scientific botanist what knowledge he learned fi-om the forest people.
As Prince Max. shows, the latter could
cure hernia, knew how to cup and bleed,
dressed the most dangerous wounds, and
practised the vapour bath, which like the
;

Wood and

Stone Ages

almost universal
the latter was effected in the usual savag^
way by heating a large stone and by poi^ing water uj^on it.
"La malade so pla^a

au-dessns
de
qii'elle
piit
aussi
prfes
I'eudroit echauffe, ne tarda pas a transpircr
qu'elle
I'effet
de
la
Taxiemfortement par
recevait, et recouvra la sant^.

+ Corrupted from

Caa-pia, or pyS, (heart,
a Doretenia, one of the Urticacese.
J Alecrim is derived from the Arabic
J.Jk^a'Ml El-iklil el-jabal, the

liver),

J^^|
rfZ,'

o

,,

^r

..

j.

,'•
2'V^-f^}'lT^'''^ly.v
theEupatorium
" roa«t-fish

is

^

«°

^J^l

^

f^^^'
.f
from it.
made

is

;

^^^™^' ^^^'^^^

'^^^'^''' '''^'^

THE CAMPOS OR BRAZILIAN PRAIRIES.

CHAP. VI.]

79

The eye can rest upon the
when viewdng from an eminence,

pause fading into the for distance.
scene

for

whilst

it is

to

hours, especially

chequered

come and

go,

and

b}'

the afternoon cloud, whose eclipse seems

this gives mobility to the aspect, as it walks

over the ridged surface of the light green or pale golden earthwaves, upheaved in the intensely blue atmosphere of morning, or
in the lovel}^ pink tints of the " afterglow," from the shadowy
hollows and the tree-clumps glooming below.
If we analyse the

charm,

its

essence seems to be the instabilit}^ of the ocean

we know that there

is

the solidity of earth.

when

CHAPTER

VII.

AT BARBACENA.
Eespirando os Ares limpidos,
vira§ao mais amena
Da liberal Barbacena * *

A

Fadre

A

HAPPY inspiration

me

induced

to

•

Correa, Poesias, vol.

call

iii.

11.

upon Dr. Pierre

Victor Renault of Sierck, Yice-Consul of France, Homoeopathic
Phj'^sician,

Professor of Mathematics, Geography' and Historj'^ at

He

Barbacena.

has spent thirty-four years in the Brazil, he

knows by heart the bj-eways of Minas Geraes, especiall}' about the
Rivers Paracatu and Doce, and he has lived amongst and learned

He once acted cashier to
the languages of the wildest savagery.
6 he assisted M.
the INIorro Yellio Mine, and between 1842

—

He

has married a Brazilian
the notables in the place are his " gossips."*
What

Halfeld in opening the coach-road.
wife,

and

all

more could be desii-ed in a guide ? Although somewhat invalided by the bivouac and the field, he kindly and cordiallyplaced himself at om- disposal, took his stick, and led us out to

look at the

city.

Barbacena da Rainha lies m S. lat. 21° 13' 9"*1, and W. long.
0°49' 44''-3 (Rio) in the cuhninating point of the Plateau, 3800
feet in

"round numbers" above

essentiall}'
*

temperate

;

the annual

" Comjiadre " and " comadi-e, "

so called

in relation to the afilhado or afiJhada, the
god-child, still fonn in the Brazil a religious
relationship as in the days when our gossip

was a Grod-sibb, or "akin in God." I have
heard brothers address each other as Compadre, and the same term applied by wives to
their husbands.
These brother and sister
sponsors may legally marry, but public opinion is as strongly pronounced against the
union as the 'ndse of England regard
confarreation" with the deceased wife's sister.
If you intrigue with your comadre, you be'

'

sea level.f

maximum

The

climate

is

being 80° (F.) in the

after death a peculiar demon whose
object in life seems to consist in
frightening muleteei-s.
Foreigners resident
in the Brazil are compelled to faU into the
cu.stom, which has its bad as well as its
In small country places, for
good side.

come
sole

in.stance, all

the inhaljitants are connected

by baptism if not by blood, and thus the
ends of justice are admirably canned out
the clean contrary way.
t M. Liais, the latest and the best authority, makes the height of Barbacena
3730 feet above sea level.
1137 metres

=

CHAP.

AT BARBACIiNA.

VII.]

81

The Highland city began life as the Arraial da Igreja
Nova do Bordo do Campo, a lialting-place for mule troops
between Ouro Preto (22 leagues) and Petropolis (40 leagues)
its chief trade was in cakes and refreshments sold by old women.*
The site is unusually good for a settlement of such origin. In
shade.

;

the Brazil, cities founded by ecclesiastics occup}'' the best situations, hills

and

rises

commanding

fine

views

;

the laity preferred

was made a municipal
town in 1791 by the famous or infamous Visconde de Barbacena,

the bottom lands, near gold and water.

It

Captain General of Minas, who baptised
(1809) describes

it

ouvidor or auditor judge.
of

March

9,

It

was made a

23,448 souls, with 1954 votes,
ground,

alqueiras

of

The

city

after himself.

each

Mawe
by an

by provincial law
1864 was
and 39 electors, covering 1400

municipal

Its

1849. f

fathoms.

it

as a village of 200 houses, governed

being

alqueira

numbered 5000

city

population in

10,000

souls in 1849

;

Brazilian
it

was then

a kind of central oasis in the desert, formed by the southern

Mato

or

region which we

forest

have

traversed,

northern prairies over which we are to pass.

and by the

Travellers to and

from Minas loved to linger here now they put themselves into
the Union and Industry coach.
In 1867 the rude census gave
about 3600 souls within " Toque de Sino " sound of the church
bell.
This retrogrades half a century in 1825 the population
was estimated at 3600, of whom 300 were whites, the rest beinj?
;

—

;

and quarteroons. Such, however, was the first
Europe, and such will be the temporary consequences of improved communication in the Brazil.
The white
element now greatly preponderates, and the slaves, it is said,
do not number 200 head.
In the last generation the Barao de Pitanguy made by commerce 400,000?. no such fortunes are now open to industry. A
house which cost 2000/. in days when labour was cheap willingly
sells for 500Z., and this is a general rule in Minas.
In 1864
more than 60,000 bags]: of salt passed through the city; in 1867
blacks, mulattos,
effect

of the rail

iii

:

tliis fell

to 50,000.

The "Nobre

e Muito Leal Cidade " began in 1842 a kind of
" Secesh " movement, which took the name of " The Eevolu* Sr. A. D. dePascual calls it the "Freguezia dos Carrijos " in 1792.
This is, I

an error.
t Castelnau (i. 198) says

believe,

vol..

I.

% The bag of .'talt weighs from 2 aiTobas
(64 ll)f5.) to 2 avrobas 61bs.
I found the
average of 6 to weigh 2 arrobas 2 lbs.

in ISil.

G

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

82

tion of Barbacena."

Miiias,

and her

stalwart

[chap. vii.

Sao

parent

Paulo, were especially aggrieved by the law of judiciary and
electoral reform (Dec. 3, 18-il), wliicli, establishing cliiefs of
police, delegates, sub-delegates,

and inspectors of quarters, over-

They
spread the country with a cloud of preventive agents.
oligarchy,
interest
of
an
the
in
were
these
measures
cried out that
and that thus, the citizens were placed at the mercy of the
Government. Yet they repudiated repubhcanism, and professed
the greatest loyalty to the head of the State. Minas was also
fmious with the Conservative Ministry of 1841, and even more
so vdth her provincial President, Bernardo Jacmto da Veiega.

The movement was precipitated at Sorocaba in Siio Paulo. Upon
the Municipal Chamber of Barbacena met (June 10, 1842)
and proclaimed Lieut. -Col. Jose Fihciauno Pinto Coellio de Cunha
tliis,

acting

President

Minas,

of

Carvaliio as Secretary.

with

Sr.

Jose Pedro Dias

Pomba and Queluz

at

acting or " intrusive President " instead of marching

upon Ouro

Preto, the capital, wasted time

de

once rose, but the

upon

once
prome-

at

a mihtary

nade to Sao Joao d'El-Kei and elsewhere. The next two mouths
saw various j9cnj36^/fes the " Massena " of the contest being the
;

who was proposed as ViceIn early August the then Barao de Caxias, after
reducing Siio Paulo to order, appeared before Barbacena, and
the city bowed before its " manifest destiny."
Barbacena, the white town on the hill-top, has straggled into
the shape of a cross or T, with a random sprinkle around it
the main street, Eua do Eosario, is the perpendicular, running
nearly north and south, whilst the eastern ann is truncated. The
lines of
two main thoroughfares are unpaved in the middle
trottoks
of
terrible
are
their
breadth,
and
at
the
sides
rib
stones
widenings
of
the
streets,
are
chief
The
squares,
mere
roughness.
municipality
of
the
is
the Largo da Camara, where the palace
and the Prac^a da
the Pra^a da AUegria, behind the Matriz

present senator Theophilo B. Ottoni,
President.

;

;

;

Concordia to the

east.

In one of them a piece of machinery,

the
intended for the Morro Vellio mine, cumbers the ground
article is in a " fix " the clay roads cannot convey it, and the
;

;

town-hall threatens to fine it for remaining there.
The houses
are mostly " porta e janella " the best belongs to the General;

Deputy the Barao de Prados, who,
on duty at Eio de JaneLro.

at the time of our visit,

was

—
AT BARBACENA.

CHAP, vii.]

83

We

walked painfully up the main street, named after the mean
Nossa Senhora do Rosario, an invocation much affected
throughout the Brazil by slaves and negroes. It is generally
chapel,

known by

a plaster crown on the fticade, and beneath the crown,

either detached or adjoined, is a rosary * ending in a simple cross.

Beyond
bell

was an Ermida or private place of worship, with a gilt
little sacraria characterize all the older towns of

it

these

;

Embryo

Minas.

inns still swarm we counted half-a-dozen. The
and lucrative " Art of Healing " numbers many

destructive
votaries

;

(and general practi-

apothecaries

six allopaths, five

:

tioners), four midwives,

known by

the wooden cross nailed to the

A

wall, and one homceopath.
square of white paper stuck inside
the window shows " house to let," here apparently the normal

condition of such property.
The favourite building material is
the well-known " adobe "
the sun-dried brick of Mexico and Salt

—

Lake City

Minas

is a mass of cla}', often weighing 30
tenements have stone foundations to prevent
the damp and rains crumbling and washing away these unbaked

32

lbs.

in

:

it

A few of the

masses of mud; the houses' eaves are made to project abnormally.
We inspected the Matriz N'' S' da Piedade, which fronts
to the north-north east, and commands a good view down the
main street, and into the open beyond.
The sloping ground
required for

it

a raised and stone-revetted

'*

Adro

"

—platform

or

Here, as with us, was the earliest burial-ground, the
churchyard under whose flags repose, i)i pace Domini^ the
terrace.

ancient

vicars

and

(" Cavaco," p. 157,

rude

Woolf ),
'

grandees.

Thus

Padre

Correa

:—

sings

Dos cemiterios

e do adro,

Resuscita vaos espectros." f

The Adro

is adorned at the entrance and the corners with wellpyramids, and "promiscuously " with seedy willows, all
athirst, and the "scrimpy," stiff, and worse than useless " Ca-

cut

little

The

suarina."

—

stranger wonders to see this Australasian savage

—natviralised

amongst the glorious vegeHindostan its roots o^^erspread
where the neighbours gracefully
and impoverish the soil
droop their branches, it turns them up with impudent pretenugly as a Scotch

fir

table beauties of the Brazil and

;

;

*

to awakcu the negro's
in Africa they compose his

The beads seem

sense of
iinest

home

finery

;

and

his

richest

riches.

Of

I speak of the " Popd Bead."
f "li'rora the graveyard and the platform,
Praises he tlie empty ghosts."

course liere

G

-2.

—

—

THE HTC4HLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

84

sion,

and

its

main purpose

in Creation

[chap.

vii.

seems to be that of hous-

ing destitute crickets

A

"

iuiportiuia

monotona

sigarra,"

and hoarse whirring
The facade of whitewashed
drown the sound of the voice.
in the older Province of
adobe and stone has four windows
Sao Paulo the number is a sine qua non, five, the Trinity

jolly

beggars,

^vllose

ceaseless

chirping

;

occupying the front,

they did the three

as

Gothic steeples,

Joseph and ]\Iary the wings. A suspicious crack and a dangerous bulge ajipear about the entrance
they are attributed to the
;

sinkmg of the font-water. There are two square campaniles,
short and squat, after the fashion of the older Brazil, a cross,
and a broken statue. The profile shows tlie usual big nave and
broken

chiincel, a

small barn backing a large barn, as in the

countrified parts of England.

'J'hc

the blue steatite * here abundant

;

material of the decorations
it

is

is

often painted blue to

it bluer, " and thus," exclaims a talented Brazilian author,
" thus they assassinate Nature "
Like the lapis ollaris it may

make

!

be cut with a knife, and exposure to the
absorbmg the " quariy water." Thus it

Some

ings and coarse statuary.

air
is

soon hardens

it

by

well fitted for carv-

of the monolithic

jambs

are

1-4

feet long.

The entrance is guarded by the usual screen f of plain wood
and glass peepholes. The choir-balcony is over the door under
it are two frescoes by a native hand, representing the Saviour's
Passion, two holy-water stoups, and in its own chapel, to
the left, a baptismal font of green-daubed granite. +
Seven small
Avindows placed high up admit a dim light, and there are two
tribunes to accommodate the local magnificos.
I'he wooden
flooring, a parquet of moveable parallelograms, six feet by three,
shows that it has been a cemetery, a custom which still lingers
in Southern Europe
here it lasted till a sensible law, one of
the benefits of yellow fever, i^ut an end to the pious malpractice.
The Avails are pasted Avitli election papers and other public
documents, and on each side is a Avhite and gilt pulpit in the
normal style, which may l)e called the " swallow-nest."
The six
minor chapels § have altars of Avhite, green, and gold
the
;

;

;

• Pedra azulada.
t Tapa-vento.

X Mawe,

c.

10, says tliat there

granit teuclre, blanchitre, dont on fait
des uieules."
§ My wife took down the patrons, as
follows: Right side
<lc

is

in the

neighbourhood of Barbacena, "unecavriere

—

CHAP.

AT BAPvBAC'ENA.

VTi.]

wood

of stone and

pillars?

rest

85

upon consoles, but these have

basal pedestals, and are not founded upon nothing, as in most
Brazilian churches.

The chancel arch

leading to tlie high altar shows a massive
candelabrum, worth 120/., and presented b^'the pious Bariio
de Pitanguy.
The curtain guarding the throne has a black cross

silver

on a white mortuary cloth of

and wool, costing 100/., and
worked by the
Barao's sisters. And there is a good statue of Italian marble
representing a guardian angel at liis devotions, and placed at
an expense of 360/. by the Barao in honour of his father.
The high altar is of white and gold, with a " Dead Christ and
Our Lady " on painted wood, and somewhat above life-size. The
effect is not bad.
There is a large tabernacle
four massive
candlesticks of ormolu assist the tapers, and four tolerable
modern oil-paintings represent the " Flagellation," " Our Lad};-

given

silk

The

the Barao's son.

b}'

altar cloths are

;

at the Cross," the

tion from the
will

serve

towns

of

"Agony

Tomb."

Garden," and the " Eesurrec-

in the

I have lingered over this description;

churches in the

the

for

all

the

Brazil,

within the

"well-to-do"

civilizing

influence

it

country
the

of

capital.

We

next visited the church of (N^

dispatch

from

The

afar.

S'*

da)

Boa Morte

— of happy

a conspicuous pile on the western ridge, best seen

it is

;

exterior of granite and steatite is grotesque, the

towers have two clocks, apparently dummies, leaving work to the

neighbouring sun-dial, and an ugly new sacristy of strange style
has been stuck on to the original building,

Thus Castelnau erred

1815.
pile

which bears date

in supposing that the unfinished

had been abandoned, Hke the Hyde Park Achilles.

These

places in the Brazil belong to Sodalities or brotherhoods,

proceed

them

with

as

fast

or

slowh'

as

as

funds

who

i:)ermit

;

foreigners readily prophesy that progress has ceased, and moralize,

when such process

is

uncalled for by the

decay of zeal in this our modern day.

The
No.

1.

interior is the
Saints

Micliael,

normal barn
Cecilia,

and

Liizia.

No.

2.

N»

S» do

Carmo and N»

Rosario.

No. 3. N" S"" dos Passos.
Left side
No. 1. Saints Antonio and Kita.

S» do

—

And

wliite

occasion,

upon the

yet they do move.

and blue.

N** S^

da

No.
2.
K' S» das Dores and S'«
Earbara.
No. 3. Saints Sebastian and Joseph,
with the " Menino Deiis " infant Christ.
Also there is a little separate chapel for
the Blessed Sacrament, with a crucifix,
kc, S. Vincent de Paul.

—

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

86

[chap. vn.

caput, and below her is a recumbent
There are two stone pulpits painted azure, an organless
organ-loft, and three votive tablets on the wall.
To the west is
the cemetery, with its mortuary chapel, which owe their existThis " colon}' of the dead," though
ence to our excellent guide.
only three years old, is filling fast
catarrh and pneumonia, with
their numberless varieties, being the principal cansce causantes.
At the entrance we met a dead negro carried upon a stretcher
b}' four black brethi'en, who, laughing and chatting, tossed and

Assumpgao occupies the
Virgin.

;

jolted the clay into a semblance of

life.

—
—

man beating a dog a rare
humanity to animals is the rule I asked
who he was, and was told " an Italian."
There are many
of these emigTants in Sao Paulo
in fact, they
in
Minas
more
extend from Para to Buenos Ayres.
The}' do not bear a good
report, and my friends often warned me against being suspected of
coming from the land which produced Cfesar and Napoleon, Dante
and MacchiaveUi. The perfervidum lugcninm, the claiiToyant subtlety of the Ausonian, is a plague to him in these countries he is too
clever by half, or rather by tlu'ee quarters. He returns to the Italian
of the sixteenth century
he is dark, wily, and unscrupulous as
Rizzio.
Some answer to the old saying, " fur atque sacerdos."
A certain Fr. Bernardo is reported to have sold for the Virgin's
Struck by the savageness of a white

sight in Brazil, where

—

—

:

;

milk, " mosquito's
called.

but

eggs,"

as

homoeopathic globules are here

The reader may think

official

"veritable

tears

rubbish as saints'

of

Our Lady

relics,

in

his credulity

rosaries,"

have

The Mineiro

t^

;

have sold

ecclesiastics

passed

off

for

heaven"

may

sing with

and have sold "passports

at the rate of a sovereign a head.

Beranger

upon

this a draft

documents prove * that these

:

we have
Small Jesuits of the bilious hue.

AATiat imperceptibles

Hundreds

!

of other clergy grave,

Who little

relics

* Appendix to
Presidential Relatorio of
Minas for 1865, p. 39.
IMoreover most

hold to view.

del Mina " on the Guinea Coast.
Vamhagen (History, ii. 281) warns us that
at first the Mineiro was a term applied

large churches in these lands have a bit of
the True Cross duly supplied to them by

solely

Italian speculators.

Rio Grande

t Mmeiro (from Mineira)

is

an inhabi-

tant of Minas Geraes, the Province, and
must not be confounded by the .stranger
with the African " Minas " of " 8t. George

A native of
of Sao Paulo,
Panlistano
(adjecPaulista (substantive), or
tive), (not Paulense, as in the excellent
handbook, "Brazil: its Provinces and
Chief Cities," by William Scullv. London
to

the gold
is

miner.

Rio Grandense

;

:

—
CHAP,

AT BARBACENA.

vii.]

87

From
Prison
three

the Boa Morte we deseeiuled the vile Ladeira da Cadea,
Ramp, and looked at the jail the barred windows showed
women.
In almost all cases of premeditated mm-der
:

throughout the Brazil, two of the active actors are a

The

a negro.

last of the public

woman and

buildings to be visited

is

Misericordia Hospital, in a cold hollow to the north of the
The entrance bears inscribed
Pauperis iufirmi

Et

pius, et

sit

in ore Antonius

magnus

Jose Ferreira

Armond

All honour to Sr. Antonio

!

March

(nat.

Armond,

pater egregiiis.

vir,

Queer Latm, but well intentioned

the
city.

11,

who

1798, ob. 1852),

in five 3'ears built the httle chapel of Santo Antonio,

charitable establishment to

which he

left

12,000/.,

and the
an estate and

In the absence of the priestly Curator the civil
apothecary showed us about the building and allowed us to gather

fourteen slaves.

violets in the neat " Patio " or central garden-court.*

were clean, and had six inmates

The rooms

freemen pay about four florins
per diem, and ser^-iles half.
The place has not a good name;
patients are said to die for want of care, and Brazilians deride a
" Misericordia" which charges for board and lodging.
It is also
:

from good water, always a scarce commodity at Barbacena.
best is supplied by a fountain to the east of the city
the
fa9ade wall is inscribed with the name of the Camara Mmiicipal
far

The

;

for 1864.

We then inspected Dr. Renault's little garden behind the house,
which vegetation spoke of a temperate climate it is full of pinks,
roses, violets, and verbena,! gladeoli, and heliotropes. The oranges
were excellent, and from them our host made his " Tokay " it
cost about fom'pence a bottle, and drunk with the Pinhao or
Ai-aucaria nut it suggested the best liqueur.
At Morro Vellio I
obtained an excellent recipe it is worth knowing in a country
where millions of oranges and pine-apples, jnstif3ing Elia's rave,
;

;

;

MiuTay
There

&

Co., Paternoster Row, 1S66.)
a peculiarity in the use of the

is

word Paulista
Paulista

;

is correct,

idiomatic.
* Patio

is

Paulistano would not be

Portugue.se, derived

Arabic AaiJaj (bathah), even
vestibule,

f azendeiro

for instance,

a.s

from the
Saguaio, a

comes from ^^ »^tO (Sahn\.

In

the Brazil the Patio is nsnally called Quinthe latter, however, also means a small
tal
garden attached to a messuage.
t An indigenous gi-owth, the Verbena
virgata of M. Sellow.
It is a powerful
sudoriiic, and in the treatment of "chills'
'* e^li^ials lemon-grass,
;

THE HTOHLAXDS OF THE

88

are left to decay

upon the ground.*

BTiAZTL.

[rTI\?. VTT.

"We were also shown good

spechnens of the heav}'' hand-made pots of steatite or pierre
The best oUar}^ talc
oUau'e, for which Barhacena is celehrated.

comes fi"om the Mello village six leagues distant, and from the
Merces do Pomba, t a town ten leagues to the east upon the seav/ard slope of the Mantiqueira Range. The formation is found in
tlie talcose and micaceous schists
the iii'st quality is tolerably
free from the crystallized bits of hydrate of iron, which induce
decomposition. It is easily quarried, it hardens rapidly, and
:

lasting long

it

is

in general use throughout the country.

The

price ranges according to size from fourpence to twelve shillings,

some being

large

enough

to

accommodate

smaller pots (panellas) rival the

"\\'cst

a

round of

beef.

The

Indian pepper pot for

Some day this soapstone will be worked with great
and pipe bowls, for which I inquired in vain, ought espe-

stewing.
profit,

ciallv to
*

Tlie

camp

" take."
Count

Hogeuclorf,

to the Firet Napoleon,

cx-aide-dc-

who took

re-

fuge in Brazil, made this wine, which M.
de Freycinet (Voyage de I'Uranie, i. 231)
St. Hilaire also
compares with jMalaga.
described the process of making, but very
imjjerfectly (III.

ii.

347).

The following

is

Velho recipe for making nine galTake two hundred
lons of orange wine
sweet oranges, pare off the thin outer rind of
fifty, and put them to soak in four quarts
of water.
Squeeze out all the juice, strain
it well,
and put it into the Imrrel with
thirty-two jjoimds of white sugar.
Fill the
barrel with water, and stir and shake it
the

M.ori-o

:

—

add a quart basin of ferment, and as
works off replenish it with the water of

well,
it

the soaked peels, so that

it

may

be always

full.

As soon

as the hissing ceases, put in

bung
up the ca.sk, and let it stand for seven
months before liottling it. It sometimes

a quart of old sugar brandy, restilo,

takes as much as three days to begin to
work, and has continued working from
thirty to forty days.
To give the wine a
colour, you may burn a teacup of sugar in
restilo, before the barrel is bunged up.
+ Some write Merces da Pomba. The
exjiression, however, contains one of those
ellipses so

common

in Portuguese and

the stranger

so

the full phrase
Avould be (N» S" das) Mercfe do (Eio da)
Pomba.
The Pomba River is an important northern feeder of the Parahyba do
Sul, and the lands about it are known as
the ".Mata,"— the bush.
diificidt to

;

;

CHAPTER

VIII.

GUP.- THE HOTEL.— THE MULES.
Jardins, vergeis, umbrosas alamedaa,
Frescas grutas entao, piscosos lagos,
E pingues campos, sempre verdes pradop,

Um novo Eden fariam.
Jose Bonifacio de

Amongst

the c-uiios, the " biic-a-brac,"

Andrada

shown

to

e

Slha.

us by Dr.

Renault, none was more interestmg than the gold bar, the lingot
d'or,

formerly current in the Brazil.

In the year of royalty 1808,

according to Mr. Henderson, the cu-culation of gold dust,* then
the medium of commerce, was j)roliibited of course the use
lingered lono- in the interior

—
—and coins of the three usual metals

The bar kept up

were introduced.

its

circulation

till

1832.

The

weight varied according to the ciuantity of gold brought by the

miner to the Intendencia of Ouro Preto or elsewhere. The specimen which we saw was about three inches long, and valued at
151.
sometimes it Aveiglied several niarcos, each marco — eight
ounces.
The ore was duly assayed, the Quinto or royal fifth was
taken, and it was stamped with the number, date, royal arms, and
:

standard

(toque),

24 quilate or carat-gold being the pm-est.

It was
value in ounces, octaves, and grains.
accompanied by the usual paper, the " guia " or "guide," a

Finally

it

bore

its

kind of manifest given to du-ect the carrier

;

without this

it

could not leave the Province.

came the age of gold oitavas (eighth of the
Portuguese ounce) and their subdivisions. In 1816 1822 the
oitava was worth 1$ 500, but taxes reduced it to a current value
After the bars

—

*

"Canjica," the diminutive form of
a word in which the Anglo-Indian
would hardly recognise the old familiar

"congee"
is

or rice-water.

applied to

husked

and

a

"

lioileil

In the Brazil

rice-stpia.sh "

Imlian

soup,
corn, to

p-anular gold and nuggets (pepitas) which

it

Hil. says (HL i. 70) are called Ma(;aniorras in the Uraguay or Banda Oriental
and, thirdly, to the diamantiferoua gravel,

to

a.s

canja,

tlic

«t.

will

nfterwanls appear.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

90

[chap.

viit.

1$200 ( = 7 francs 50 centimes), for which men now pay 3$ 500.
The other coins were vintens d'ouro 0$037"5 = 23-j^ centimes,

of

half-patacas and patacas

(

= OS300),

crusadas d'ouro

(

= 0^750*),

and oitavas. Some of these coins were mere spangles,
the Egyptian piastres, and the people complained that they

half-oitavas
like

were easily

lost.

The golden age expu'ed in 1864. During the last quarter of
that year the many ruinous bankruptcies at Eio de Janeiro called
The Government permitted, and not
for an exceptional measure.
Bank, a private establishment

for the first time, the Imperial

like

that of England, to issue instead of specie payments a forced

money in a treble proportion to the bullion
The privilege has been renewed, and, as figures
has not yet been excessively abused, f But times were

circulation of paper
at its

command.

show,

it

bad, the Paraguayan war was absorbing bullion and

nothing,

all

returning

the gold currency was withdrawn and substituted by

Treasury notes. Brazilians soon remembered that there had been

In the short space of three years gold
has completel}' disappeared from the Gold and Diamond Empire,
such things as assignats.

and

excei^t in the

is rare,

Museums

I have not seen a gold coin.

Silver

but not so rare, and of late there has been a new issue of

somewhat debased small change. The principal bullion is copper,
a metal introduced by the celebrated Vasconcellos, "great architect of ruins and scourge of Ministries:" the "dump," thus
elegantly termed by the English, is a piece of 40 reis, the local
penny. It is uglier and more barbarous than its British representative, but it is on the point of making way for a neat bronze
piece, with 95 parts of copper, 4 of tin, and 1 of zinc.
The place of gold and silver is thus taken by "flimsies," which
begin at the minimum of 1$000, and the maximum of 500 $000,
the latter but lately issued.
Every bullionist, in the United
States

sense of the

* St. Hil. III.

word, will understand the result of this

:

.

.

:

.

.

Other banks

.

.

empowering the issue of forty-five
millions (mil-reis) in notes,
The paper money does not present to the
traveller as many difficulties in the Brazil
His only cliance
as in the United States.
of loss
if at least he wisely prefer impepa^^scd

Sfifi.

i.

+ In Api-i] 1, 1867, the whole issue of
paper money in the Brazil was as follows
National notes
42,560 444$ 000
Bank of Brazil
73,476 710 $ 000
:

2,461

:

700 $ 000

—

Total

118,498 854 $000
This sum had increased on March 31st,
1868, to_124,686 209 $ 000.
In this session, however, a bill was
.

.

.

:

:

—

will be that incurred when old
Private bank-paper
notes are called in.
will cost him 2 to 5 per cent, everywhere, exf-ept at the place where it is issued.
rial

paper

CHAP,

viii.]

C;

UP. -THE

HOTEL.— THE MULES.

91

unsound paper currency. It is fatal to econoni}', it doubles small
expenses, and its effect is that whilst the Brazil exports to Europe
gold and diamonds, coftee and cocoa, cotton, tobacco, and sugar,
she receives in return nothing but "trash," the refuse of the

markets delivered at the highest possible prices.*

More

disastrous

still,

on account of the national

picions, has been tlie effect of this paper

upon the

fears

and sus-

mil-reis.

Tra-

1801 this, the practical unit of value, was
worth 5 shilhngs Tj pence. In 1815 it represented 6 francs 25
centimes.
In 1835 36 it was 30 32 pence. When I landed at
Pernambuco, June 1865, it was at par = 27 pence. It has in 1867
fallen to 13f pence, and under actual circumstances there is apvellers assure us that in

—

—

parently nothing to prevent

it

sinldng, like the dollar of the South

American Republics, to twopence.
But the Brazil is a young country, eminently rich
still unexploited.
A debt of 60 millions of pounds
"ballast of the ship,"

is to

her

literall}'

in resources
sterling, the

a flea-bite, considering

her enormous excess of exports over imports, that
of

mcome

over expenditure.

will be because,

with enough to pay

has not kept ready

She has
sold, a

clerical

money enough

off a score of

hand

in

is

to say,

ever become bankrupt,

If she

for

it

such debts, she

household expenses.

property to be secularized, public lands to be

system of du-ect taxation to be introduced, import dues to
gold when such process ^\ill not discredit her own

be taken

m

and mines of precious metals waiting to be worked. All
bullionists will agree \\'itli me that the sooner her paper is replaced by gold the better.
As early as 1801 Dr. Couto proposed
credit,

making the

to raise the value of the metal by

1$500 instead

of 1$ 200, a far-sighted policy.

oitava represent

We

have

all wit-

nessed wliat a small premium upon gold has done in France,
where it was treated as an article of commerce, not as an in-

—the

This measure would
old English view.
upon paper, and the heavy expenses incurred
by the Caixa de Amortizacao, tliat peculiar South American form
flexible

standard

save the discount

of sinldng fund.
* The least being doii'ile the market
Again the mil-reis
value in Europe.
(Anglice milrea) is a financial error like
the rouble of Russia and tlie rupee of HinThus
dcstan everything costs a mil-reis.
in Europe we find that the carUno and the
paolo do the duty of franc ami shilling.
;

I

am

perfectly aware that the "absurdity

of discoui'aging the exportation of precious

metals "

was disclosed some two centuries
and a half ago. But it is contended that

new

countries mostly present exceptions to
the economic law, or rather to its operations,
and that of these lands the Brazil is one.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

92

The monetary system
is

good, hecause

it

BRAZIL.

[chap. viit.

of the Brazil, arithmetically considered,

has rendered decimals familiar to the people.

when they complain of the long array of
The true unit of value is the real (plural

Strangers forget this

confusing figures.

0$001 ;* a "conto," or million of reis, is Avritten
1:000 $000, or without the tlii-ee dextral ciphers, 1:000$, and as

reis) written

in Brazilian arithmetic generally, a colon is placed to the right

of the thousands.

The

old Portuguese suhdivisions of the mil-reis are mostly con-

ventional, like our guinea.

Thev

are, 1, the testao (testoon)

=

100 reis, or the tenth of the mil-rei 2, the pataca = 8 " dumps "
= 320 reis (what a tax upon memory !) 3, the crusado, once
half-a-crown, now = 10 dumps = 400 reis
4, the sello (rare) =
=
pataca
480
reis
the
half
mil-reis = 500 reis
5,
the
6,
1|
patacao = 3 patacas = 960 reis.
The hideous copper coinage is 1
vintem (a score of reis, plm*. vintens) = 0$020, and the dois vintens,
or " dump,"= 0$040.
The older travellers were obliged to have
;

;

;

;

;

a mule for the carriage of this Spartan coinage.

We

dined together at the Uihlc (Vhote, a motley group, the

Austrian ex-lieutenant, the driver, and sundry citizens of Barbacena.

All harmonized

guide gave

me

the

Avell,

following

and

the

in

evening our good

items of information.

premise, however, that the Doctor

I

must

an enthusiast for his adopted

is

country.

The Campos

of Barbacena, the broken plains be3'ond the

tiqueira Ilange,

raised

3000 to 3500

feet

evidently well fitted for stock breeding.

black cattle

is at

The

principal use of

present to i>roduce the cheese, which

to the capital of the P^mjiire.

About

Man-

above sea-level, are

is

exported

six square acres are allowed

cow thirty-two bottles of milk yield 2 lbs. the Avomen
and children of a fiimily easily muke half a dozen loaves per diem,
and colporteurs sometimes collect 200 from a single establish-

for each

;

* The monogram of dollar
precedes
( $ )
in the United States, and in the Brazil
follows the figure.
In the older Brazil it

sometimes written U.
idea that the mark is

This favours the
a contraction of
U. S.
Others believe it to stand for
a "piece of eight" (reals), the Spanish
dollar which gave birth to the American
doUar, and that the parallels were dra\vn
across the 8 to distinguish it. Others again
derive it from the columns and .scroll of
is

;

the Spanish pillar dollar, which the Arabs
liken to a M-indow or to cannon.
Another
minutia is prefixing Rs. (reis not rupees)
to large sums, e. g. Rs. 100 000 $000.
N. B. Since the above was written, on Sept.
.5, 1868 a decree authorized the Minister of
Fazenda to issue 40, 000, 000 $000 of further
paper money. An act of Sept. 28,' 67, autho:

rized an issue of 50, 000, 000 $000.
all

has been emitted but

3,

Of

this,

61 4, 000 $000.

5-

"

CHAP,

GUP. -THE HOTEL.—THE MULES.

VIII.]

meiit.

the

;

St. Hilaire's

cheese

account of the rude process

material

is

hard and

93

is

not obsolete

equal jierhaps to the

Avhite,

Dutch "cannon-ball," but not

to be mentioned with Stilton or
Parmesan, it is good for grating. It awaits improvement in the dairy and even in the churn, which John Mawe
tells us was not known before 1809.

Roquefort

;

like

The cereals flourish in the richer soils wheat,* the maize or
"corn," which in the Brazil takes the place of oats; rje and
buckwheat, also called black-wheat the two latter are hardy, and
Tubers abound. The American potato, here
require little care.
kno\ra as "English" or "Irish," gives two crops per annum;
:

:

and the batata or sweet potato (Tuber Parmantier), four. There
also the Inhanu (Caladium esculentum) the Mangaritof or Mangareto (Caladium sagittifolium) and the well-known and excellent
Cara (Dioscorea alata, St. Hil.). I saw, for the first time, the Jacutupe t and the "Topinambour," "Tupinambur," or "Taratouf."§
Of the fruits, pears, ajiples jilums, white and black; cherries, H
chesnuts, damsons, and peaches, grow well, and are worth imis

;

;

proving.

The

grape, especially that called the

rican, bears twice

;

the vintage

is

Manga,^

or

Ame-

poor in July, but in December

the bunches are marvellousl}^ large and numerous.

The

crop makes good vinegar

rough Bur-

;

the ripe yields a thin,

* Wlieat will gi-ow at tLese altitudes in
the sub-tropical regions, but it is always
liable to rust (feiTT.igem).

" le
f PriuceMax. (ii. 76) calls the plant
luangaranito (x\rum esculentum)."
St.
Hil. (I. i. 402), speaks of the " Manga
reto branco," and a variety of a violet
colour known as " Mangareto Roxo.
+ According to Dr. Renault, Martins has
not yet named the Jacutuiie. It is evidently
a legunien with papilionaceous flowers,
creeping on the ground \\dtli a root 4
decimetres long, by 1
2 in diameter.
The flower of Idue- violet is followed by
siliqure, each containing 4
5 beans, resembling the " feve de marais " (Windsor

—

—

—

beans ?). These are very poisonous, killing
animals in a short time.
The toxic substance may be a new and especial alkaloid,
or a.s it seems by analogy, perhaps Brucinc.
Its tonic properties are sujiposed to be the
result of a great disengagement of carbonic
acid.
The beans are plantetl in Septemlier,
and the roots are edible after six months
when taken ujj they cannot lie kept long.
;

The well-rasped fecula makes excellent
starch, and is used hy the Brazilian house-

unrijje

wife for thickening soups and for making
sweetmeats, which much resemble conserves of the cocoa-nut.
The Jacutupe
flourishes most in light lands where there
is shade.
§ Dr. Renault tells me that this Helianthus tuberosxis is also called
Artichant de
Canada " and Poire de terre it belongs to
the gi-eat family of Synantherea;, order Radiacere, genus Helianthus.
It has been often
confounded with the sweet potato (Convolvulus Batatas), as in both plants the
tuberosities of the roots are mere swellings.
Some derive it from Chili, others make it a
native of the Brazil, where however it is
It
little cultivated, and only in gardens.
which would thrive in
is a hardy plant,
Europe.
Dr. Renault says that the root
would ])e a blessing to the poor, and opines
with the philosopher that a new dish is of
more general importance to humanity than
the discovery of a new star or planet.
I have not yet seen a cheny in the
'

'

;

II

Brazil.

^

The well-known

JMango.

fruit wliich

v.'c

call

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

94

gundy

;

aiul

[chap. viii.

the raisins give excellent brandy, like the Eaki of

Syria.

Mulberry trees thrive

;

they do not lose the leaf in the cold

season, but continually renew

be utilized.

I

am

told that

has found

Joinville,

five

it

;

]\I.

after the

second year

now

Abricht,

tliey

can

at the colony of

indigenous si)ecies of silk-Avorm.

telnau (146) declares that the true Bonib^'x mori

Cas-

nowhere

is

to

be met with in the Brazil
he observed, however, many large
species of the " Saturnia," known to the Chinese and to the Hindus.
;

The Urumbeba (Cactus spinosus), also called Figueii-a do Inferno,
grows wild; and the cochineal insect* appears spontaneously, showing that the fine Mexican or Tenerife Nopal might be natm-iilized.

Both

and climate are proi)itious for the hop, which is now
imported at a heavy price from Europe. The hardy and almost
soil

indestructible tea-plant gave crops of

industry was destroyed by the

fall

market value

fair-

;

this

of price at Ilio de Janeii'o.

Cotton, both the herbaceous and the so-called arboreous, has been

groMU on the

''

Capao

"-lands, and, intelligently cultivated,

15 leagues fi-om

The tobacco

it will

Pomba,
Bai-bacena and the Eio Novo, won the medal at

be wealth to the Province.

of the Bio do

the Industrial Exhibition of Bio de Janeiro
that of Baependy,
" Fumo crespo," is a dark strong leaf, well
especially the
"
fitted for making "Cavendish" or " honey- dew;" and the "weed
;

throughout Minns Geraes. The soil Avill be much
improved by compost and the produce by being treated in A'irflourishes

:

ginian style, delicately dried in closed barns

grows everyAvhere wild, and gives that
rivals the jDroduce

of Hindostan.f

fine

Avitli fires.

Indigo

purple gloss which

Dr. Benault declares that

every hive of the Em'opean bee "gives from twelve to fifteen
" In many parts of J[ina.s Geraes the
"prickly pear" Cactus gi-ows ^ntliout
prickles; it is eaten by children, not a.s at
Malta by all classes and ages, who hold it
dui-ing the hot season to be a wholesome
cooling fniit eminently fitted for breakfast.
As regards coehineal, the dye which has
made obsolete the Tyrian j^urple, i)r.
Couto,
nilla,

-^^Titing in old

planta

em que

times, says,

"ACochi-

se cria esta tinta igual

i'.o
oiu-o no valor, e da qual temos tanta
abundancia, crescc inutiimente enti-c nos.''
"Cochineal, a plant upon which is laised
the dye that equals gold in value, and of
\\hich we have such au abundance, gro-svs
useless on our lands."
A small expoi-tation

of cochineal

was

tried Letv.xeu

1800—1815,

liut adulteration witk flour soon criLshed the
attempt. Prince Max. (" Voyage au Bresil,
vol.
i.
chap. 3) found that at "Sagoarema " it had been cultivated and fetched
6 $ 400 then
31 francs.
I shall have
more to s;iy about cochineal when descendii;g the Kio de Siio Francisco,
f In 1764 a law was jjassed exempting
from duty the indigo of Para and Maranham. Under the Marquez de La\Tadio, third
Viceroy of Rio de Janeiro (17t>D
1778)
the exportation was attempted from the
Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro the article was
excellent, but as was the case ^^^th cochi)iea], the excessive adulteration disgusted
the trade.
The plant was mostly Ihe Solanum indigiferum (St. Uil.).

=

—

;

GUP.— THE HOTEL.—THE MULES.

cuAP. viii.]

swarms (enxames) per
hoiie_Y

whilst each

;

months

six
litre

excellent aqua vitfe."

;

1|^ lb.

of

95

wax with 20

litres

of

of the latter produces four litres of

Nothing, I ma}^ remark,

more wanted

is

in the Brazil than la petite culture, bees, silk-worms, cochineal,

seed-picking, which will w^ork the hands of

The Barbacenense Hotel, pronounce

R

will say

" an

As

trified Brazil.

/iotel," is

it is

women and
'

Otel,

children.

even as Uncle

the usual guest house of the coun-

frequented by strangers there

is salt

upon

the table, here not the general usage, and a huge jomt of beef

by the side of the grilled and boiled-withhunches of pork, the sausages, the chopped cabbage-cum-lard (Couve picado), and the inevitable haricots of the
The worst part of it is the " addition,"
national cuisine.
appears,

if

possible,

rice foAvls, the

which has all the "beauties of dearness;" unless there be a
special agreement the multiplication of items would read a lesson
to a

"Family Hotel"

in

Dover

Street, Piccadilly, or

place where that obsolete institution, an ancient
lingers out its dishonest old age.

pride in a generosit}^ verging

any other

EngUsh

inn,

Brazilians, like Bussiaus, take

upon recklessness and profusion

;

moreover, the exceeding courteousness of manner that characterizes the people prevents the Cavalheiro observing openlj- that

he has been plundered.
fulness, departs,

The " Maje,"

He

therefore pays with apparent cheer-

and grumbles.

would be called in the Far West,
possibly he v/as
excited by the abnormal appearance of Mr. L'pool.
The costume of our fellow-traveller consisted of (firstly), a tall broadbrimmed cone of felt, brigand-lilie, adorned with a cockade of
rare feathers
of (secundo), the threadbare shooting jacket and
frayed Avaistcoat and termmations, worn only by the wealthy
Britisher
of (thii'dly), a broad silk sash, splendid as a marigold,
over which was buckled (foui-thly) the " Guayaca," a belt of untanned leather, in which the wild Guaeho of the Pampas carries
his coin when he has any.
In this case it was furnished with
and (sixthly), with a bowie
(fifthly) a loaded Colt's six-shooter
as our host

further north, sent us in an unconscionable bill

;

;

;

:

Brummagem

very "low" in Brazilian eyes;
(seventhly), there was a pair of " tamancas," wooden pattens, used

knife

of

sih^er,

only in the house, and these had been provided with leather
thongs like the sandal ribbons worn by our venerable feminine
Add to
pnrents in the days wlien Ch;u'les Dix was yet Roi.

—
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

96

[chap. vili.

this a " capaiiga,"* or pouclilet of coarse canvas, in

muleteer stoAvs awaA' tobacco,

much

flint

miscellaneous cargo as

pocket.

is

and

steel,

contained

which the

pack-thread, and as
b}^

the schoolboy's

Thus equipped, the wearer was the model

of an English

travelling gentleman.

The

Brazil

may

be improvident, profuse, reckless, but not so

Mr. L'pool scrutinized, ynth underwriter eyes,
and at once detected charged to us 32 bottles
of beer, which the "Maje" had drunk to drown his sorrows.
"
Poor little old man, his famih- allows him no " trink-gelt

North Britain.
the "

little bill,"

!

When

remonstrated with, he oftered seriously, but in bitter irony,
to reduce his account to nothing
to one quarter
to half.
]3ut

—

—

upon the son of that
city where men seem to be born with brown pnpcr parcels under
their arms, he took off 14 shillings from as many pounds sterling,
and thus ended the Battle of the Bottles.
Good news awaited us at Barbacena. jMr. J. X. Gordon,
Superintendent-in-chief of the great English mine at Morro Yelho,
had kmdly offered to send mules for us to Juiz de Fora our
delay had caused the troop to march northwards, and we Avere in
no small fear of missing it. Hired animate are here paid 5$ 000
per diem each, including a mounted guide. But they are seldom
the fine satire being utterly tin-own away

;

good, never safe,

esx:)ecially

where a riding-habit

is

in the case

;

and the first comfort of travel in the Brazil dejiends upon your
beast and your saddle. It was therefore with no small satisfaction
that we found ten good beasts under the charge of Mr. I'ltzjiatrick,
whose sole dut}' it was to look after them and their furniture. In
Persia we should call this INIaster of the Morro Yelho Horse a
Mirakhor, Chief of stables, here he is an Escoteiro or Ecuyer
all I shall say of him is that he kept his men sober, and that he
made us thoroughly comfortable.
Every traveller comjilains of the testy and petulant mule
every traveller lides mules, a necessary

stand long marches in
learned

b}'

tliis

evil,

part of the Brazil.

studying the mulatto and the

amiable monsters,

it

and undistinguishable

appears to eye
liate.

* This bag is taken from tlie Indians,
-when hunting slung it over the
shoulder like a kind of camassiere
it was

who

;

all

It will not

as horses cannot

The
eunuch

beast
:

may be

like those

creation with a general

become attached

to the

cords knotted and plaited and
dyed alternately yellow or red brown, Rith
the " catoua" liark.
of cotton

:

iiiAi'.

<!UP.— THE HOTEL.— THE MULB^S.

viir.]

master, treat he

and of

it,

it

never so kindly

animals

all

it

its

seems to

it

treachery can always get

the brute's hardiness

and that

rest.

it

During"

:

requires

my

feel a

consciousness that

better of a struggle

the.

therefore, jn-efer horses to mules.

it,

the rider can never be sure of

the most violently agitated by fear.

is

and

Its tricks are legion,

;

97

It is a

:

elderly

men,

mistake to believe in

here at least I find that the sun soon tires

much

grain, plentiful di'mk,

travels in the Brazil one fell with

bridge, despite the vaunted muline sagacity

;

and frequent

me through

a

another dropped on

mule (macho), gave me as I was
which made me ask the day
o' week for an hour afterwards
and briefly, I never rode a hundred miles without my monture kissing the ground once, twice,
or thrice.
In one point, however, the quadruped mule surpasses
the biped.
The former looks up to the nobler side of the house,
and wiU follow the lead of a horse rather than the wake of a
brother bastard. The latter learns curiously enough the father's
its side

;

*

a third, a vicious

little

sitting loosely in the saddle a hoist
;

family teaches

Our

little

him the

lesson

—
—not to do

so.

caravan consisted of two " tropeiros " or muleteers,

the almocreves of Portugal, and arreii'os of Spain.

Miguel was

There were
the driver (tocador), whilst Antonio acted guide.
three baggage mules, including " Falloux," the scapegoat, and
Estrella, the " star-faced,"

the hand that fed her.

an incarnation of

They had

ready to kick

vice,

the old Brazilian packsaddle,

described in detail by Mr. Luccock and Prince Max., girt on by

hands over masses of heterogeneous packages, stuck as if
plastered.
They will value the comfort of good loading who, by
engaging some dunderhead European, have lost all patience and
alternate half-hours.
The riding beasts were " lioao " the chesnut, "Machinho," a small grey mule, "Estrella No. 2," a good
sun beast, and Camandongo the "male mouse," stout and willing,
old, and therefore tolerably safe. Thus each had a single remount
skilful

nothing

lilve the change after a few hours in a hottish sun.
There were three horses, " Castanha " the bay, "Alazao" the
roan, and an old white guide (madrinha) named "Prodigio," the
sole prodigy being its age.
All were in good condition, with sound
there
eA'es and teeth, frotliing their bits to show their spirit
are no "jjarrot mouths," and there are few shiny places upon
;

their backs.
* Prancliear-se

VOL.

I,

"Lombo limpo,"
is tlic

Enizirum tonn.

says the proverb, "
+ " Clean back

bom

(!<ho\v,s)

arreiro."

good luuleteer."
It

t

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

!)S

A
M.

word

before

leaving

Barbacena.

The

[cHAr. vin.

observations

of

Liais found no difficulty in running a line of railway via this

Velhas

Santo Antonio de Rio Acima and Sabara on the Pdo das
indeed he declares this to be the shortest and readiest

road.

If so, the dull old

city to

;

be called gay, because

it

town has

a future.

Juiz de Fora maj^

has a daily arrival and departm-e of the

Barbacena is galvanized by a bi-weekl}- coach, which keeps
up a theatre for amateurs and a billiard-room. We are now
about to see the outer darkness of places to which mules are the
mail.

onl}' transport.

THE

Length

.

LIXCIOT DOR.

—

—

CHAPTER

IX.

BARBACEXA TO NOSSO SENHOR DO BOM JESUS DE
MATOSINHOS DO BARROSO.*

FRO]\I

" S'il existe un pays qui jamais puisse se passer du reste du moude, ce sera
certainement la Province des Mines." St. Hllaire, i. 4.

We now
lies

most populous part of Minas, which

digress from the

The

almost due north between Barbacena and Diamantina.

direct, or

north-west road, about 150 miles, between us and the

Morro Velho Mine has been trodden

to uninterestingness.f

therefore took a liberty -with the mules, and resolved

I

upon making

a right angle to the west, with a base of thirty and a leg of ninety

miles as the crow

flies.

The good Dr. Renaidt

supplied us with letters, not forgetting
one for Sr. Francisco Jose de Meii'elles, innkeeper of Barroso,
the "muddy" where we intended to night.
In this country

"recommendations," as introductions are called, may often prove
more valuable than bank-notes. He accompanied us on horseback for a few miles,! and I felt sad when taking leave of him.
A man living upon conversation and exchange of opinion, and to
whom talk is bhss, he must Snd Barbacena as it now is, a penance,
a pm-gator}'.
Time and approximate
Mtirro Yelho

lengtli of stages

from Barbacena via

S.

Joao and Sao Jos6 to

:

Barbacena to Ban-oso
5° 30' statute miles 24.
.
hours
7° 10'
BaiToso to S. Joao
3. S. Joao to S. Jos^
4. S. Jose to Alagoa Dourada
5. Alagoa Dourada to Camapuan
6. Camapuan to Congonhas do Campo
7. Congonhas to Teixeira
8. Teixeira to Coche de Agoa
9. Coche de Agoa to Morro Velho
Thus the total time was fifty hours expended in covering 163 statute miles the rate was,
therefore, 3i miles per hour.
When I travel alone my men are always mounted, and thus
we easily get over six to seven miles an hour.
t In 1825 Caldcleugh (ii. chaps. 17—18). Mr. Walsh (1829) travelled via S. Jose.
1.

2.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

:

Castelnau was the last in 1843.
X This complimentary escort is known as the " despedida,'"
east is general tlu-oughout the interior of the Brazil.

and as

in the nearer

H

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

100

To-day's march will be about
usual time, as maii}^ hours.

five

Had

[ciiai'.

ix.

leagues,* and occupy the

the road run along the Valley

of the Eio das Mortes, the distance between Barbacena and Sao
Joao woidd have been shortened, it is said, from forty-eight
to thirty-six miles.
But the ancients adopted the custom of the
savages a custom with which the African traveller is painfully
familiar.
They made the ascents and descents as short as possible by taking a bee line, and by disdaining a zigzag.
The
object, of course, was to stiike the plateau as soon as they could,
and to keep it as long as possible.
The Paulista saying is,
" Ride slowly up the hill for the sake of yom* beast, jirick fast
over the level for the jom-ney's sake, and ride gently down hill
for your own sake."
Accordingly, om- bridle-path cut over hills
and dales covered with thin gi*ass, glowing with light, but lacking

—

The horizon was evidently of the
same contour, but flattened by distance into knobs and knuckles.
The surface glittered painfully at times with debris of mica and

the glare of Ai'abia and Sindh.

there were ugly descents of white earth, with
and the water breaches (esbarrancados) Avere of

crystallised quartz

rolling pebbles,

monstrous

;

size.

Antonio, the guide, having declared that he knew the

yvny, lost

no time in losing it. At one of many critical turns he broke
to the south, and led us to the " Fazenda de Canyagora."t
Through a woody bottom, over a bed of carbonate of lime, flowed
the little Rio Caieii'o, " Limestone Creek," an affluent of the
Rio das Mortes. This dolomite, covering sixteen square leagues,
sells for

0$280

to

0$320 per bushel

building purposes, and the burnt

at Barroso.

Hme

It is

good

for

fetches 2 $000 to 3 $000 at

Juiz de Fora.

We

found two " Campeiro"

offered

the

them coppers

Campo

+

in vain.

lads, herders of black cattle,

They were going

—a juvenile taradiddle —they had not time

but they condescended to show us
*

When

si^eaking of iulaud leagues, I
unless it is otherwise s2Jecilied, to
the old Brazilian, a little more than four
English statute miles.
Popularly it means
an hour's ride.
Assuming the animals
stride at one yard, and two strides per
refer,

second

—

less

and more doAvn, or
we have
7200 strides or yards, 160

uphill

vice versd according to the beast

3600 seconds

=

—

how

and

in theii' rags to
to guide us,

to guide ourselves.

We

over the four miles (7040 yards),
Concerning the leagues and other measures
of length, I have given all necessary information in the AiJpendix of Vol. II.
+ My friend Mr. Copsey informs me
that the Fazenda in question is generally
known as "do Mello," or " dos Caieiros."
J Prince Max. (iii. 89 and elsewhere) calls
j-ards

them Campistos^an

en-or.

—
FROM BARBACENA TO BAKKOSO.

cuAi\ IX.]

101

passed a large lime-kiln, and shortl}' before sunset we

made

a long

descent from the barren highland into a prett}' picturesque basin.
A bird's-e^^e view showed an oasis (of Fiction) in the desert. All
was bright with Capim Angola (Panicum altissimum), and with
roses and the Poinsettia, whose brilliant red bracts, always the
highest light in the picture, give it a centre, as it were, and illuminate up like lamps the tints of tamer flowers. The vegetation
of the basin ranges between England and India, from the weeping
willow, the SiciUan cactus, the orange, and the palm, to the plantain, the coffee-shrub, and the sugar-cane.
Nor was the "utile"
forgotten

;

the gardens smiled with

Matosinhos

yams and various

boasts of a church, Nosso Senlior do

little village

(of thickets)

do Barroso

;

The

greens.

Bom

of a chapel that

Jesus de

accommo-

N" S* do Rosario, and of a half-finished square, with the
normal two shops of seccos and molhados dry and wet goods.
The brightly whitewashed tenements are disposed as usual in
"
Each has its quintal, or " compound
single lines and scatters.
of flowers, fruit-trees, and vegetables, with a few coffee-plants and
dates

—

Such was Barroso when we

a patch of sugar.

visited

it.

Once

the Fazenda do Barroso, whose last possessor was the Capitao

Jose Francisco Pires,

it

has

now become

a district in the Munici-

pality of Barbacena.*

A

curious

contrast there was in the beauty and elegance

excuse the word

— of

unlovely auburas of

this

Brazilian village, and

the

modern England and France and

homely,
of "

New

America."

We

A

" dirty-picturesque"

ej-ed

who condescendwe had remained in the saddle.

presented our letter to Sr. Meirelles,

ingly bade us alight,! otherwise

us as

if

mob

of muleteers pressed to the door

we had come from one of the "

Yii'gil described.

The establishment was

and

foreign parts" which

the

common compound

of the third and fourth phases assumed by venal hospitality in a

land where every second gentleman keeps open house.

No.

1 is the

Pouso, a mere camping-ground, whose proprietor
+ " Apear

* In 1S20, when Mr. Walsli passed
throiigh "RaiToza," as he calls it, the place
Curious to say, in the
wa.s still a Fazenda.

ha.ste "

map

here

M. Gerbcr (1862), it is placed upon
the north or right hank of the Rio das
In
Mortes, in this case the wrong bank.
the eliart of M. Burmeister (18aO) it does
of

not appear.

to

" it would be "indecent
dismount without such invita:

house.
And
the honours and ceremonies of the
jirivate, are expected by the public, house,
whilst the host is at least as exigeant a.=!
his dwelling,
tion, especially at a private
all

—

—

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

102

[liiap.

jx.

let troopers water their mules and tether them
In the first quarter of the jiresent centmy travellers
were often condennied to nights a la belle cto'ile in these germs
of accommodation, which have now become populous villages and

does not object to
to stakes.

towns.

Eancho, represents the " Traveller's Bungalow,"
cot, chair, and table. Thugs and Dacoits.
Essentially it is a long, tiled shed, sometimes fronted by a
verandah on wooden posts or brick pillars at other times with
outer walls, and even with inner compartments, formed by taipa*
adobes, or clay and wattle.
Here the muleteers miload the
beasts wander undiiven to the pasture, whilst the masters build a
fire, hang their kettle, gipsy fashion, from a tripod of sticks,

No.

2, the

lacking,

however,

;

;

beddmg

strew on the ground by way of

make

cargoes, and

The

piled panniers! and pack-saddles.

the

the hide covers of the

a snuggery with parallel partitions of neatl}'-

Brazilian poet describes

Rancho
E

por g^nipos apiiihoados,

Em

seu ceutro

estiio arreios,

Sacos, couros e broacas.f

It requires the skin of a

swarm with

" tropeiro" to sleep in such places

bmTow

strange, outlandish vennin, which

:

all

into your

and which make their homes under your nails.
No. 3 is the Venda, or shop, a decided advance, but not
" thoroughly respectable." I was once reproved for owning to
having enjoyed the opposite extremes of Fazenda and Venda.
It is the "pulperia" of the Hispano- American colonies, the
village emp(nium of England, combined with the grocery and the
public-house it sells " a' thuigs," from garlic and praver-books
to gin and rum, cake and candles
sometimes it is double, with
flesh,

;

;

* The i>is6 of Brittjuiy and puddle of
England, found from Devonshire vid Dahome and Sindh, &c. to Australia. The
way of making it is alrao.«t everj'where the
,

same

will

therefore, describe the
the clay is stiff and contains small quartz pebbles, it forms a gooil
;

I

wall.

not,

When

process.

It alwiiys requires,

however, to be,

the phra.se is, well hatted and booted
supplied with wide eaves to save it fmm
the rain, and a stone or brick foundation
to prevent the moLsture of the ground eating away the base.
a.s

t The

.Taea is ni:tflc of

the

Kimboo bark

and plaited it is a flat ijarallelogi-am
containing the sack of salt or coffee, and
fitting close to the cangalha or pack-saddle,
The " broaca " is a buUock'.s hide softene<I
in water, shaped and se\\Ti into a rude box
with cover, and allowed to dry, when it
becomes hard as wood.
The word is
^^Titten by old writers Boroacas, by the
modems Bruaca-s and Broaca.s.
Prince
JIax. (ii. 305^ prcfei-s "boroacas, sacs de
jicau de Ixtuf durcic.
% "And in the middle, heaped and
grouped, are mule trappings, bags, hides,
and skin-boxes." (Racharel, Teixeira^.
split

:

"

(HAr.

FlIOM

IX.]

BARBACEXA TO

BARll<.)80.

lo;{

one side for wet, and the other for tUy goods.
over which swings the

A

counter,*

rude balance, bisects the length.

Between it and the door are stools, boxes, or inverted tubs. The
customer touches hat to the proprietor, and is hereupon told to
sit down.
Behind the '* balcao" is sacred ground, admitting to
the gynecoeum.
The shelves of untrimmed wood are laden with
mugs, cans, and other pottery, and on both sides with full and
empty bottles, upright and couchant. On the floor are salt-bins
and open kegs of coarse sugar and beans, a box or two of maize,
piles of lard and salted meat
the popular " carne seca," a rope
of black tobacco curled round a stick, and tms and demijohns of
The items are umbrellas, horseshoes, hats,
the local rum.

—

mirrors, belts, knives, long pistols (garruchas), cheap guns, am-

—

and sewing gear in fact, everything that can be
wanted by rustic man or Avoman. The Venda has usually a room
where strangers are accommodated with a large platterf for ablutions, a wooden bunk, a long-legged table, and a low bench.
No. 4 is the Estalagem, or Hospedaria, the inn where we shall
lodge at Marianna
and No. 5, and last, is the more pretentious
hotel, or 'otel, with which the reader has made acquaintance at
munition,

;

Barbacena.

We

had omitted the advisable precaution of sending forwards
and two hours' delay converted it to a supper.
The menu was the usual thing. The flesh is represented by a
hunch of roast pork, which no stranger in the Brazil wall touch
to order dinner,

after

he has seen the behaviour of

bazar pig of India

is

St.

George's pet animal.

a better specimen of education.

The

There

is

usually a tough stewed fowl, an riz,l with head and neck, giblets

and four shanks, but wanting probably a wing and a thigh. Qilufs
au plat§ are common as pigeons and omelettes in Itaty. The
Brazil,

peppers

England, is a land of one sauce, red and yellow
gathered from the garden, and bruised in broth and

lilce
II

* Balcao.
+ (Tamella,

a hollowed bowl of some
Gamelleira (Ficus
doliaria), at times six or seven feet in circumference.
See Chap. 21. sect. 2, for
a further notice of this popular article. In
the house it is of various shapes, round,
square, and oblong, deep and shallow, and
soft tree,

geuei-ally the

much reminded me of the platters wjiicli
saw at Harrar in East Afi-ica.
t Gallinha ensopada, usually tolei-ably
done, but alway.s a " sudden death.

it

I

tlu-owu upon a hot
§ Ovos estrcllados
copiously larded, and often swim;

plate,

ming in brown
Molho de

liquid,

||

pimenta (capsicum).

Of

many

varieties kno^mi to,
the aborigines
the
"System" mentions ten species. The best is
i)robably the yellow-skinned rounded Pimenta de Cheiro (of perfume, C. ovatum or
odorifemra, also .Jua), superior, in my
opinion, to that of Nepaul.
There is also
the Cheiro' Comprido, or long .smeller,

these there are
and cultivated

by,

;

§

"

m

THE HKiHLAND.S OF THE BRAZIL.
The

limejuice.

[niAr.

ix.

feijoada, locally called " tutii de feijtlo,"* is the

many places where wheaten bread is unproand corn bread is unknown. I have heard an Irishman
call it a " bean poultice," and, 'faith, the unsavoury sunile fitted
It is a mixture of farinha with haricots, flavoured with
exactly.
toucinho (cutis and suinus), the oil and cooking-butter of the
This adipose tissue of boned, disembowelled, and uncountry.
staff of life in the

curable,

fleshed pig, slightly salted, is hygienically well adapted to beans,

combinmg carbon with nitrogen
almost every dish, and

it

unfortmiately it enters into
does no good to the digestion of " Young
;

The same may be said of many places in the AVestern
United States and in China, where people are almost made of
pork. Apparently it is a favourite food in young lands. In Europe
we are told during many centuries the only animal food generall}used was pork; beef, veal, and mutton being comparatively unknown. The rice is sensibly cooked. Brazilians know the knack,
whereas the English and tlie Anglo-Americans still persist in
Brazil."

eating the husk.f

For dessert I appears

a tureen-full of canjica

—boiled maize, and

sweetmeats, of which all orders and ages are exceedingly fond,
Canjica is " kitchen'd " with brown sugar, with quince conserve,
or with guava
boxes, or

posed to

in

clieese.il

flat

facilitate

tins.

The two
They

digestion,

dice against this excellent stomachic, superior for opening the appetite to all ab-

Max. was wiser " Dans
humides .... cette epice est
excellente pour la digestion, et pent aussi
Prince

:

ces forets

passer

poiir

un

febrifuge

tres salutaire"

Paul du Chaillu (Ashangoland,
chap.
"The pepper itself
3.)
I believe to be a very useful medicine in
this climate, for I have often found benefit
from it when unwell and feverish, by taking a moderate quantity in my food." Brazilians are exceedingly fond of pepper, as
were their Indian predecessors, who used
" muita somma de pimenta. "
Amongst
the ten well-kno^^-n kinds we find the
Pimentao, or large pepper (Capsicum cordiforme, or in
Tupy, Quiy4-a9Q, also
(iii.

6).

So

is

Pimentao comprido), much cultivated
the

savages.

Yet the

l>y

Brazilians do not
seeni to enjoy the large boiled pods of
wliir-h tlie Spaniards are so fond.
In old

universal

are

up in Avooden
sup-

favourites,

and they accompany

and the Cheiro doce. Strangei-s often bring
with them from Europe a nursery preju-

sinthe.

latter are served

salt

cheese,

books we find many native names for the
different species
Pimenta-poca, Poca doce,
Quiyaqui, Quiy^-apud (corrupted to Cujepia), Quiya-Cumari, or Cumbari, Quiyaa^ti (coiTupted to Cuihemo9u), Inquitai,
:

Pesijurimu, Sabaa, and others.
The generic name in Tupy was Quiya or Quiyuha
in Carib " Axi " in Peruvian
"Api.
* The Feijao (Pha.seolus vulgaris) here
takes the place of the Egyjitian Fid (Mudammas, etc.)
It is of many kinds,
;

;

mulato,
cavallo,

fidalgo,

and

preto,

roxo,

incamado,

so forth.
'

f I have explained all this in the Lake
Regions of Central Africa," i. 393, yet the
Briti-sh rice-eater still feeds like the Prodigal
Son in distress.
J Sobre-mesa, literally on the table,
§ Marmel&da, not to be confounded with
our marmalade.
(ioiabada, from goiaba, whence our
guava (Psidium pyriferum).
'

||

FROM BAIIBAOENA TO BAREOSO.

IX.]

ciiAi'.

105

even as cheese and pudding go together in ancient Yorkshire.
The wine, where there is any, calls itself Lisbon, and is dyewood,
molasses rum, and half a tumbler of the worst juice of the BarSometimes
the popular name for it is " caustic."
celona grape
;

Ave may inquii-e, as did the Teuton
of his ecclesiastical host, " Senhor Batre, esde e binho ou binaki-e?"

there

is

Bordeaux, and then

Every feed invariably ends with a cup of coffee, not " water
The
bewitched," as in England, but, though rich, badly made.
bean is burned to blackness, as in Egypt; it is pounded, not
ground, as in England but it is always strained, boiling water
;

being poured through the charged bag. Moreover, the popular
sweet tooth makes it into a syrup with treacly Rapadura, and
" Rapadui'a coisa dura,"* justly observes the Brazilian Mr.

—

Merrpnan. Of course there is as little sitting after dinner as in
Utah or a little Russian town.
Such is the Jantar (dinner), the prototype of Almoco, or break-

The

fast.

however,

latter,

in the

sobre-mesa of tea and cafe au

lait,

better

inns

bread, or that failing, with biscuit f and Irish butter.

King George

are like

good

citizens,

who

I.,

many

preferred his oysters stale^ and the

a

made by the Germans

man temper

water, with a pinch of salt.

reminds

me

The people

love to "taste" their fish and eggs, complain

that the fine fresh butter

I have seen

who

ends with a

the milk always scalded, with

it,

lacks flavom*, and

as Suez peoj)le do the Nile

This adjunct to the minor meal

of our "fasts" at Oxford, where the day was

known

by meat plus fish.
My wife was allowed to swing her hammock in an inner room
we j)assed the night on and under rugs in the verandah. The air
was cold, colder than at Barbacena. We had been gradually
descending, and a stranger would have expected warmth from
this snug hollow.
In the Brazil it is the reverse. The first;

comers, I have said,
whicli

afterwards

when not

became

* "Rapadura, thing t' endure."
The
word means "scrapings;" the thing is

a preparation peculiar to South America, a
brick of uncrystallized sugar from which
the molasses has not been drained.
The

word

Peru

Chancaca or Raspadura
(St. Hil. III. ii. 266), where it also means
sugar with the syrup expressed from the
clayed or cured stuff, and allowed to drain
in

is

or droj) into a vessel, being thus

c;;st

priests,

villages,

like

built

towns,

dwelling-houses

cities,

in

bottom-

The traveller must use it in the
Its sole merit is
far west of the Brazil.
I never saw
that of being very portable.
it in the United States, or in other sugarbullets.

growing lands.

+ Generally Rosea, our " rusk," too
often resembling the "rock of ages," as
the war biscuit was called in the United
States,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

106

lands, -where Avater for mills

(

BRAZIL.

*'monjolos "

)

[(

ri.vi-.

ix.

and home uses was

near and plentiful. Evaporation being excessive made the hollows

rawer than the heights by night, and as the sun

is

not yet colom-ed

German-silver in the Brazil, the cold was followed by the other
extreme.

A

small difference of altitude here determines the

worth or worthlessness of landed property.
frosts,

When men

say that

"cold" they mean that it is low-lying and subject to
which destroy coffee and sugar it may be geologically- the

the soil

is

:

same as its neighbom- on the other side of the hill, yet it is unfit
for any but such pauper cultm*e as cotton and cereals.
Long ago
Theoplu'astus* observed that it freezes less on hills than on hills,
and it is an old remark that the ascent of warm air preserves vines
and other plants on heights when they would perish iu the
valleys.
* Theophrastus,

v. 20.
I quote from
74 of a valuable book whirh was obligingly sent to mc by the Editor, " Essay ou

p.

Dew," by William Charles Wells.
by L. P. Casella,
Longmans, 1866.

F.R.A.S.

Edited

London:

—

CHAPTER

X.

FROM BARROSO TO SAO JOlo

D'EL-REI.

" Of all inveutions, the alphabet and the printing press alone excepted, those
inventions which abridge distance have done most for the civilization of our
Macau lay.
species. "

Rising before dawn on the next day, we found from the bloodclotted hides of our animals that they

had suffered severely from

the vampire (Vespertilio Naso, or Phyllostomus Spectrum), aPhyl-

name

of "

Morcego

"

Andira
These big ruddy-brown bats, of ghostly flight and
cannibal tastes, are confined to the American continent, and they
miaccountably prefer particular spots. I found many of them in
the island of Sao Sebastiao (Sao Paulo), where there is no cattleThey seem to select the neck, shoulders, withers, and
breeding.
hmd-quarters of animals, m fact, to attack where they can least
be disturbed.* When a " raw " exists it is chosen before other
places.
The muleteers declare that the phlebotomy does no
harm. I remarked that it always enfeebled the patient. In Sao
Paulo and Minas no case of a man having been bitten by the
" ugly spectre-bats " came under my notice. They did, however,
much damage to the earlier European settlements
the New
World.
Cabiza de Vaca (1543) was Avounded by the leaf-nosed
maroon-colom-ed monster near the Lake Xarayes. Messrs. Bates
and A. R. Wallace, and my excellent fi-iendMr. Charles H. Williams,
of Bahia,f suffered in person on the Amazons, where the rhmophyll
appears to be decidedly anthropophagous.
Koster mentions the
use of an owl-skin to preserve animals from the leaf-nose.
The mode of the vampu-e's attack has of late years become
lostom, localty called by the generic
or Guandira.

—

m

* Southey, i. 144, relates that they bit
the ears of horses and greatly terrified the
animals.
Prince Max. (ii. 61), never sa'n'
men bled by them.
his
party of three vera plilebotn+ All

mized in the big toe during a single night,
Mr. Williams felt the bite of the brute,
and found a punctured wound about oneeighth of an inch in diameter.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

lOS

the

subject

The wound

of debate.

is

flicted

—I never saw my horses

Max.

asserts before the doubting days,

tomus)

animaux."
hooked nail

and

in-

skilfully
it.

x.

Piunce

" Ce vampire (Phyllosun grand trou dans la peau des
Gardner believes tlie puncture is made by the sharp
of the thumb.
Lieutenant Herndon thinks that the
avec ses

fait

softly

or mules terrified by

[oiiAr.

dents

tusks bite, whilst the nostrils are fitted for a suction apparatus.

Others trace the wound to the papillae of the tongue, an organ
The armature of the jaw, however, speaks for itself.

of action.

must be like a Vision of Judgment
upon the tip of one's nose, in the

It

find

to

awake suddenly and

act of drawing one's

to

life-

blood, that demonical face with deformed nose, satyr-like ears,

and staring fixed saucer eyes, backed by a body measuring two
from wing-end to wing-end. No wonder that it suggested to

feet

the simple savage the subordinate fiend " Chimay," Avho thinned

him by draming

We

the sap of

set out at 4'30 a.m.

even at this season

life.

—the

—when

latest time that should be allowed

nothing

mules so much as

injui'es

The

travelling in the post-meridian sun.

bridle-path led over

the same style of Campos, gleaming yellow with coarse low grass,

and perfumed with the hardy Avild rosemary.* Even the gramens
had lost the culms of fructification seen below the Mantiqueii'a.
Everything except the sun told us that mid-winter was at hand.
We forded sundry veins, all running northwards to the main
artery
near one of them we enjoyed a roadside breakfast, and
:

we jiersuaded the

tropeiros

refresh us with coffee.

way ranch

at the

We

of a neighbouring gipsy

might

easily

Kio Elvas (P.N.)f

have fed

Here

is

camp

to

at the half-

a bridge in the

of ancient Minas, with central ridge, huge balustrade, and

st3'le

roof of ponderous

tiles.

As we trudged along

slowly in the fiery sunshine, Ollaria and
other out-stations, nesthng white in the cool verdure of the
hollows,
thrill

made us

sigh for their shade.

At noon we saw with

a

of pleasure far below the Valley of the Great Eiver of the

Murder-deaths,! whose sources we passed in the Mantiqueira
Range, to the south-east of Barbacena.
Here its valley, even at
this dry season, Avas
*

much

cut up with water

Rosmarinho do Campo, a Lantana (?)
Elvas, popularly pronounced
En-as
hence some travellers write it
" Hervas." Can it be the " Widasmaotli."

+ Or Rio do
;

:

during the rains

it

which Mr. Walsh (ii. 227) places near
Barroso ?
J Rio das Mortcs Grande and Pequeno.

—

(

1IA1-.

FROM

x.l

must be

BAIU'vOSC)

A

a lake.

influent, the
Avest

"

little

TO SAO JOaO D'EL-HEI.

further on

it will

109

receive a southerly

Lesser Rio das Mortes, and the two anastomosing"

of S. Joiio,

form the true Kio das Mortes.

will

This,

again, falls into the Rio Grande, also called the Parana, being

the head-stream of that mighty artery, and dividing the
of Sao Paulo and

About

six miles to our

Jose mountains.
bristling Avith a

Far

right rose the craggy lines of the S.

was "

John of the King,"
upon
the Togi's bed.
Under our feet,

to the left

dozen churches, spread

a hill-side, grim

and jagged as

upon its
charming

river-plain

little

Provmces

Minas Geraes.

lay

the

St.

lilie

a white sheet

Ai-raiaP de

Matosinhos, a

—

and three-quarters more
exactly, eight hundred Brazilian fathoms
from the city. We
passed up the neat principal street, and entered a main square
formed by the best houses, each with its flower garden, set off by
a few coffee shrubs of prodigious size, and the richest verdure.f
There is no priest, but the church of the Espiritu Santo
a|)peared, externally at least, in good order.
Here during its
fete pilgrims flock from the country for the spiritual refreshment
of prajdng through the day and night.
Matosinhos stands where once stood the far-famed " Capiio de
Traicao " Tree-clump of Treachery a term dating from the
days which named its stream " River of the Deaths," or rather
murders. At the end of the seventeenth century, the Paulistas,
suburb,

distant

a

mile

—

—

—

especially the Taubatienses, or people of Taubate, a Paulistan
cit}^ in the Valley of the Parahyba do Sul, found gold diggings in
most parts of their captamcy, now the Province of Minas Geraes;
and they incontinently claimed all the rights of discovery. One
of their Poderosos, named Manoel de Borba Gato, arrogated to
himself the title of Governor of the Mines, and he was supported
b}' his countrymen.
They determined to expel, some say to
massacre, the Forasteiros or Foreigners, meaning the emigrants

* Arraial (Arraj'al), or Real, means prothe royal head-quarters in a camj).
Thus Camoens (iii. 42)
]ierly

" Ja no campo de Ourique

se assentava

arraial soberbo e bellicoso.

" Now on Ourique's field was i^itched and
manned
The Lusan 'campment proud ami bellicose."

Thence it came to signify a field
In Minas Geraes the word was

of battle.
applietl to

povoa9ai>, or village of olden clays, because it was mostly fortified, and it was
generally in the presence of the Indian
tlie

enemy.

+ In these places, which are usiially well
watered, if not manured, fniit-trees and
shrubs thrive exceptionallj^.
Cafe de
Quintal, for instance, means something
much more luxuriant than what is grown
in the open.

"

THE HIGHLA>'DS OF

110

'J'JiE

BRAZIL.

[<jiai-.

x.

The latter, nicknamed the " Pharifrom Portugal and E;iroi)e.
sees of Minas," chose as their Governor the Portuguese Manuel
Nunes Yianna (Viana), '' White Man and European," and thus
began, in 1708, the celebrated wars of the Caboclos* and Emboabasf " Red-skins and Feather-legged fowls."
Yianna, then the " Grej'-eyed Man of Destmy," sent from
Ouro Preto a thousand miners under a blood-thirsty villain,
Bento do Amaral Coutinho, to assist his party the Forasteiros.
The Paulistas, who Avere hutted in the Tree-clump of Treachery,
were persuaded to lay down their arms, and were foull}' massacred
to a man by the mob of slaves and- cut-throats who followed
Amaral.
The Governor and Captain-General of Rio de Janeiro,
D. Fernando Martins Mascarenhas de Lancastro, who succeeded
Ai*tur de Sa, went to the Ai-raial with four* companies of troops he
was met as an equal by Yianna of the will of bronze, and he was
presently induced to retu'e.t In 1708 the Governor was succeeded
by Antonio de Albuquerque Coellio de Carvalho a man of
different stamp.
He mastered Yianna, and permitted him to
retii'e from the Mines, and to live upon his property near the Rio
de Sao Francisco.
"Whether his merits were rewarded by the
Com't," says Southey,§ "is nowhere stated; thej' are, however,
acknowledged in (his ?) history."
Albuquerque, it is generally
believed, pardoned Yianna b}' order dated August 22, 1709.
The King (D. Joao Y.) subsequently revoked this, and directed
that both the ringleader, with Amaral and his secretarj', Fr.
Miguel Ribeiro, should be arrested.
Some say that Yianna died
at large, others in the prison of Baliia. These civil discords breed

—

:

—

* According to the exact Yamliagen "Caboclo " or " Cabocolo " means "ijeeled,"
or "plucked," because the aborigines removed the Ijody hair as the Chi-istian
Brazilians \ised to do, and as Oriental
peoples still do.
Marcgi-aff (Hist. Nat.
Braz. 268) applies " Caribocas " and " Cabocle?" to the mixture of white, negro,
and Indian in this he is supported by
:

Prince Max. calls civi22).
Indians " Caboclos " (i. 30), and
elsewhere (i. 110) makes the word equivalent to Tapouyas, pxire "Indians.
St.
Hil. (III. ii. 253) asserts that Caboclo or
Caboco is contemptuously applied to the
pure Indian. On the Amazons, as the "Naturalist " infonns us (i. 35), the civilized
Indian is called Tapuyo or Caboclo.
According to my experience the word now
means a man with a mixture of red blood,

Gardner

lized

(p.

and

it

is

ai^plied

insultingly,

somewhat

"nigger." Yet I have known a
man nick-name himself "Caboclo. " Prince
Max. (i. 30 1) says that the mixture of
white and Indian produces the Mamalucco,
the negro and Indian Ceribocos (popularly
Cafuz, corrupted to Cafuso), the jnire Indians Indies, the civilized red-skins Caboclos, the wild Indians Gentios, Tapuyes or
like onr

—

Bugi-cs.
It is rightly
f Some wi-ite Embuaba.
explained by Cazal (i. 235).
See Southey
(iii. 885).
In many parts of the Brazil a
" knickerbocker " fowl is still termed

"Emboaba.
+ Local tradition says that Vianna with
4000 men met D. Fernando at Congonhas
do Campo, and compelled him, with
threats, to march back iipon Rio de Janeiro,
§ History

(iii.

83).

•

1

ii.vr.

ITvO.M

X.]

The

long-lived results.

the two branches are
liio

DKL

BAlUtOSO TO .SAO .JOAO
Piiiilistas

still

Ill

IlEf.

and Mineiros are cousins; but

alienated by the battles for gold on the

das Mortes and elsewhere.

Beyond the prett}- subiu'b lay the " Agua Limpa," pure as the
Neva well it deserves its name. The pebbly bed is now forded,
:

and during the rains a "pingela," or "pingella," a beam, often an
unsquared tree-trunk, oftener without than with handrail, suffices
for communication.*
Higher up is a broken bridge dating from
the days when Matosinhos had a flourishmg gold mine it ended
with the bursting of a d3'ke like the " Sadd El Ai-em." Reaching
the Municipal Palace and Prison, we were arrested by the normal
:

procession on the fete of Corpus Christi

we pulled

;

off

our hats

and we sat in the sun till it passed.
All the
There was nothing remarkable in the " fmiction."
Irmandadesf Sodalities, or Tertiary Orders, were there, white
men in red cloaks, brown men in green, and black men
natm-alh' in white.
Not wanting were the Aiijinhos, or little

—

—

—

angels, chits in short crinolines, frilled pantalettes, satin shoes,

and fancy wings,
angelic age, and

all

profuse waste of

wax

The

all

under ten, apparently the ne plus ultra of the
There was a
learning vanity with a will.
taper,

and very

little

of art in the images.

Host under an embroidered
canopy, and military with music brought up the rear.
These processions were much patronised by Nobrega and the
principal ecclesiastic bore the

great Jesuit lights of 1850.

and the

Doubtless the sliow^ the melody,

m3'ster3', w^on maiij^ a stray

Tupi sheep

for the Fathers'

fold.+
These ardent votaries were followed b}^ men wiio thought
with Hosius, " Strip the Chm'cli of its pomps and pageantry,

and

its

doctrines will

become

as the fables of iEsojD."

The

rite

presently declined, became a system of farces and masquerades,
" irreverent ceremonies, and ridiculous mummeries. §
In these
*

The Indians

the Brazil, like those
suspension bridges of
Uianas, woven together in the simplest
fiishion, and allowed to oscillate above the
water.
A "hand-rail" of vine or creeper
enabled the passenger to steady himof the Orinoco,

of

made

self.

f Mi-staking this institution, Mr. Walsli
134) locates at Sao Joao two convents
when religious orders were not
permitted to establish themselves in Mina.s
Ueraes.
i "Les n:»tui-cls nc connaisscut de la re(ii.

at a time

formes ext^rieures du culte.
ce quitient a un ordre de
ceremonies prescntes, ils trourent dans le
liyion

que

les

Amateurs de tout

jouissances particuchretien
des
Prince Max, ii. 395.
§ St. Hil. (III. i. 100). I use his words,
for he was a vei"y Catholic and a " Pi'ofessor," as far a.s a scientific man can be.
So in the Pro^nnce of Paste, amongst the
Andes, Humboldt saw the Indians dancing,
masked, and hung with bells, round the

culte

lieres. "

altar wlicre a Fi'ancisoan
Host.

was elevating the

a

THE HKJHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

112

[chai-.

x.

days it is perfectly and dully decorous, and it subserves the useful
purpose of " bringing people together." It combines the pro-

—

menade, the visit, the pic-nic in fact, it is the one outlet, the
grand parade, for poor human vanit}^, here so little, when in
Europe so coiiiouslj', au'ed. And wherever in the Brazil the citizens
have, primo, little to do with the outer world, secundo, little to do
at home, there this style of devotion flourishes.
At Sao Joao Ave
heard the bell-ringing of Oxford all the day and half the night
was made vocal by the " dobrar," slow-tolling, the lever being
used, and *'repicar," ringing in triple bob-major, when the
tongue is hammered with the hand. It was a "furnace of music,"
a "tempest symphony."
We followed the Praia, or Eastern Quay, stone revetted, whilst
the opposite side is not.
This en revanche has a picturesque bit
of aqueduct lately repaired.
The Bio de Sao Joao, descriptively
but erroneously termed by some travellers Rio Tejuco,* flows
through the city to the common reservoir on the north-east.
At
tbis season it is a film of water trickling down a foul bed, doggy
and catty.
Like manj^ a once rural stream in England, it wants
only breadth, volume, and washing.
Two old-fashioned bridges
of solid stone, each with three arches of about twenty feet sj^an,
cross it to the east, and near the Camara, is Ponte Novo, looking
very elderl}', and capped with a cross. Westward lies the Ponte
do Eosario.
Seen from its streamlet, Sao Joao is strikingly picturesque.
:

:

The

snow)' buildings of the northern section spread out, trigon-

shaped, upon the Quay; thence, rich in

tall

houses, massive fanes,

and clumps of wondrous verdure and startling flowers, they
swarm up their wild and remarkable background of Serra, once the
El Dorado, the focus of amiferous deposit.
To the left, also
lending

its

foot

for

the

city

to

rest

upon,

is

Lenheiro, said to be 3000 feet above sea-level.f

and ribbed with that hard talcose
* Rio Tejuco

would mean

"mud

river."

(or Lingoa Gei-al) " Tyjuca," also
written Tijuca, is applied to many places
in the Brazil where the first explorers
found a Lad Tyjucopaba or Tyjucopao, in
Portuguese atoleiro or lama9al, a slough or
quagmire.
The Diet, translates Tyju " es-

The Tuin

cuma,

'

froth or

foam

;

and Tj'juca "lama,"

—

baiTO podre or apodrecer mud, rotten clay,
to rot.
At Sao Joao the Rio Tejuco is"

slate

the

Serra do

It is ridged

soon to become so familiar

small iuflnent from the north, which, joined
by the " Barreiro " from the east, joins
the "Rio Acima, " the western section of
the Sao Joao stream.
+ Some say 5700 6000. But the city
is only 1290 feet (Aroeira) above sea-level,
and about 2300 feet below Barbacena. I
regret not having made observations for
altitude, as the tempex-ature seems to suggest nearly 2000 feet.

—

—
FROM BARROSA TO SAO JOAO

CHAP. X.]

to US, the thinnest

113

brownish brushwood, finds place there, and the

a magnified this-tle, a vast teazle.
To the
the " Bocaina," or Gap, the water-gate of the River of

system looks
right

D'EL-KEI.

is

like

the Murder-Deaths

;

and further

Serra de Sao Jose, a

still, -the

brother of the Lenheiro, walls in the view.

We deposited our very hot and dusty selves in the Hotel
Almeida, kept by Sr. Joaquim Jose de Almeida, and sent our
" tickets " to the Capitao Custodio de Almeida Magalhaes, who
obHgingly insisted upon our " cutting our mutton " with him.
Presentl}',

lounging at the doorwav, we espied, in the act of

—

ridmg b}', an indubitable British hat white, massive, and broadbrimmed.
Unhke Eotlien, but very like other Englishmen in
similar circumstances, we took the liberty of asking the wearer's
nationality, and when surprise at the sudden process had worn off,
we found ourselves sittmg and chatting with Dr. Lee, a Kentish
man, or a man of Kent. He had married, settled, and spent
tliirt3^-three years, "on and off," at Sao Joao.
Presently he
introduced us to Mr. Charles C. Copsy, of Cambridge, who there
had known some of my undergraduate kinsmen. He also had
passed through the Church
he was a lieut.- colonel of real
Brazilian volunteers, seventy-four stalwart youths, well armed
and uniformed
moreover, he Avas Professor of English, geography, and mathematics at the Lyceum.
It was pleasant to fall so unexpectedly upon these two cultivated English gentlemen, to brush up reminiscences, to exchange
More
adventures, and to hear the chaff of our own land.
pleasant still to find that their home habits had not permitted
themselves to become Brazilianised. Brazilian is good, and British
is good
the mixture, as is said of other matters which shall be
;

;

;

nameless, spoils two good things.

Un
E

il

It

much suggests

the old saw,

Ingleze Italianato

Diavolo incamato.

on n'a quetrop souvent a rougir des compatriotes que Ton
rencontre dans les regions eloignees."
And, for the personal
kindness of my fellow-countrymen of Sao Joao, I can only beg
Also,

*'

them

to receive our heartfelt thanks.

Before ending in sleep the uncommonly satisfactory evening,
we may prepare for an inspection of the city to-morrow.*
* I liave Lon-owed freely from the Aponda Popula9ao, Topograpliia, e
Noticias Chronologicas do Municipio da

tamentos

VOL.

I.

Cidadc de
de Jlinas
Ilodrigues.

S.

Joao Del-Ilei (sic), Provincia
For Jose Antonio
Tj-p.
S. Joao D'El Rei (sicV

G-eraes.

I

"

—

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

114

[chap. x.

When

Sebastiao Fernandes Tourinlio discovered iii 1572 the
emerald miiies which proved to be ridiculous grass-green tourmalines, the Brazilian interior was at once traversed by intrepid

bands of explorers and j^ioneers, mostly Paulistas. The names
generally quoted are those of Bartholomeu Bueno da Silva,
i^ihanguera, popularly translated Old Devil, and
by cognomen
suggestmg the Shaitan Ka Ohai of Sindli his brother-in-law,
Antonio Eodiigues
Ai'zao, of Taubate
Fernao Dias Paes
;

;

;

Leme, his son-in-law Manoel de Borba Gato, before alluded
and Thome Pontes. The first lodes and vems* were found
;

to

;

now called Eio das Mortes, and the
abundance of ores caused the land to be named Minas Geraes
General Mines.
Chroniclers delight to repeat that in those
golden days a peck and a-half of corn cost sixtj'-eiglit oitavas of
gold, now = £23
farmha-meal was worth forty oitavas whilst
a horse or a bullock fetched thirteen to fourteen ounces.
These
in and about the stream

;

;

prices, they state, effectually killed out all agricultural industry.

I should think that the reverse would be the fact.

The Arraial do Eio das Mortes began life as a village in 1684.
In 1712 {aid Jan. 29, 1714) D. Joao the Magnificent named it
ViUa de Sao Joao d'El Ptei.f On December 8, 1713 (aUl 1715)
its proj)rietor, the Governor and Captain- General of Sao Paulo,
sent to it the first Ouvidor-Judge, Dr. Goncalo de Freitas
Baracho.
By Provmcial Law No. 93, of March, 1838, it
became a city, the chief place of a Comarca,t and the headquarters of the electoral district.
In 1828 Mr. Walsh gave the
municipality 9000 to 10,000 souls.
This figm*e had risen in 1859
to 21,500, of whom 15,200 were free, 100 were strangers, and
de

J.

still

A.

Roclrigxies,

The

1859.

autlioi'

His mono-

practises as an advocate.

graphy is one of the many valuable pamphlets which appear in the Brazil
they
are little known to the Geogi'aphical So:

cieties of

London and

Paris,

and the

tra-

veller should be careful to collect them.

* The veeio (hardly a jjure Portuguese
word) is a vein of metal.
Yeeiro means
the corpo do metal, the lode
and veta is
also a vein.
The usual word is vea (vena),
c.ff. " veas de quartzes que sao OS veciros.
t This is the only correct way of -m-iting
the name; all the others, as Del Rei, Del
Rey, D' El Rei, and numerous modifications, are obsolete or erroneous.
The
;

Arabo-Spanish article El is
Portuguese for the king, and

reserved
it

in

commands

the particle " d' " cannot claim
liji^lien
a capital letter, and the modern Portuguese
vrvite Rei, not Rey, which is now Spanish,

a

:

J In

colonial days

the Comarca was a

district within the jurisdiction of a CoiTe-

The latter name is now obsolete,
and the chief legal authority is the Juiz
Thus also
de Direito, or Juge de Droit.

gddor.

the Juiz Municipal has taken the jjlace of
the Juiz Ordinario, from whom an appeal
lay to the Ouvidor. The Comarca or arrondissement of the Rio das Mortes is comi>osed of the municipalities of S. Joao, S.
The municipios of a
Jose, and Oliveira.
Comarca again are divided into freguezias
or parishes, and these also into districts
(districtos).

—
CHAP. X.]

FROM BAEROSO TO SAO JOAO

6200

an element rapidly

slaves,

whom

D'EL-REI.

decreasing.""^

115

There were

tliii't}--

300
and 1600 voters.
The city is about two
miles long from north to south, and contains ten squares,
twenty-four streets, and 1600 houses, of which eighty are twostoried (sobrados).
The census of 1859 gave it
nine electors, of

jurymen

sixteen were

chosen by the

(jm'ados),

]\Ien, free

3,150

Women,

4,650

ditto

50
260
390

Foreigners

Men,

servile

Women,

ditto

Total

I

of

city,

am unwilhng

Mormonism.

at this late

8,500

hour to make

But what think you,

Milton and Priestly
a poorly-peopled

tliink, of

country

?

reflections savouring

reader,

or what would

such relative numbers as these in
Is

it

not a waste

of productive

power ? In fertile Para feminme births average, I am informed
by my friend Mr. Williams, four or five to one masculme. Is
by the prejudices of
it not lamentable to see men blinded
Surely
education, thus neglectmg the goods the gods provide ?
it is time for some IU™° Senhor Dr. Brigham Joven to arise
in the land.f
* In 1867 I was told the mtmber of
is about 1350,
This in not unlikely in a
in the city 500.
slaves in the municipality

land, where free laboiu- is preferred to the brutal negligence of the
African, and whose hands have mostly
been sold oil" to the agricultural districts
of Eio de Janeiro, which still calls for

pastoral

more.

may

t The text
those, to the

appear paradoxical to

many, who

still

believe can-

nibalism and human sacrifice, slavery, and
polygamy, abominations per se, the sum of
I look uj)on
all villanies, and so forth.
them as so many steps, or rather necessary
conditions,
to

its

l)y

i^reseut

wliich civilized society rose

advanced

state.

Without

cannibalism how could the Zealander have
preserved his fine physical develojoment ?
Certainly not by eating his bat and his rat.
Without slavery how could the Antilles
and the Southern States of the American
Union have been cleared of jungle ? White
men could not, and free black men would
Without polygamy, how
not have done it.
could the seed of Abraham have multiplied
At the utmost they would
exceedingly ?
have doubled their numbers in half a cenIn the Old World a return to the
tury.
state of its youth would be a retrogi-ade
movement, a relapse into barbarism. But
it is not the same with new lands, which
represent numerically the conditions which
wo have forgotten centuries ago.

—

;

CHAPTER XL
A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO D'EL-REI (South

Side).

Hdsta los palos del Monte
Tienen su destinacion
;

Uiios naceni para santos

Otros para hacer carbon .*

Tins quotation, borrowed from Dr. Rodrigues,
vaguely to the past and
shortly

the

after

great

futui*e

of

Stio

refers

Joao.

somewhat

.Hereabouts,

earthquake at Lisbon (1755), it was
In 1789, as will

jiroposed to transfer the seat of government.

appear, the patriotic
for the site of their
versitA'.f

movement in Minas fixed upon Sao Joao
Washington, and Ouro Preto for the Uni-

Unfortunately, there

is

hardly a place of importance,

or even without importance, in the

not assert

its

Mming

Province which does

claim to the Imperial MetropoHs.

I

may

brief!}'

quote Campanha, Baependy, Minas Novas, Paracatu, Guaicuhy,

and even the savage site of the Pirapora Eapid, on the Eio de
Sao Francisco.
In history these things repeat themselves. The Brazil will
not always rest satisfied with her present capital, exposed as it
is to the attacks of all first-rate maritime Powers, and far more
vulnerable than was St. Petersburgh before the Crimean war.
Presently the oldest claimant, Sao Joao d'El-Rei, will see her
name once more thrust forward. But I doubt whether the
project will be seriously entertained

* It

may be

tlius translated

:

;

incertua

the

many advantages

scamnum

faceret

ne

of

Priapiim

maluit esse deum.

Even the tree in forest glade
Each has its several lot

make a saint is made,
must warm the pot.

"Wliile this to

That fain

The sentiment

is

Horatian.

Quuni faber

f Vamliagan justly calls this a gi-eat
thought, and proposes both a Capital and a
University in the Province of Minas. The
Brazil can afford to *' -wait awhile " for her
metropolis, but she should not be patient
about her Alma Mater.

——

f

A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO

CHAP. XI.]

counterbalanced by

the

situation

The

Valley of the Sao Francisco

are

will,

D'EL-REI.
its

one

is

117

uncentral position.*
inclined to prophesy,

be in the course of tune the chosen seat for the metropolis of
the

Diamond Empire.

On
city,

we

the shortest day of the year

set out to visit the little

marshalled by Mr. Copsy; his local knowledge made

all

In the Rua Municipal we found the town-house,
a large pile, whose ground floor boasted of barred Avindows, and
whose upper front showed imperial arms and Justice in relief;
moreover, it was unaccompanied by a shop. In Brazilian towns,
things easy.

homage is rendered to commerce
the best houses, by converting the lower half into

as in Spanish colonies, a practical

in almost all

This, the Municipal Palace, was also the

a store.

another "institution."
of jealous

It is

Begum Sombre,

common jail

somewhat barbarous, a flavouring
to

hold sessions over the heads

demoralizing prominence and
mendicant incarceration should be abolished, and
be abolished, as soon as the municipal funds, at present

of the

buried alive

;

and

the

j)ublicity of
will

much dejH-essed,
The building,

permit.

stone below and adobe above, is polychrome,
and not without beauty. The frontage numbers 110 palms by
not the normal square or the popular claret
a depth of 120

—

case.

It has

five

entrances,

curves outwards, and shows

all

iron-railed

the state-room, 100 palms x 50, where an
as usual,

the

;

the central

We

traces of the sentinel.

adit

visited

ii-on railing divides,

jurymen from the aldermen in

session.

The

western ceiling was shored up, confessedly wanting repairs. To
the north is the Public Library, open every day, and grimly
Baptista
decorated with the portrait of a local benefactor.
Caetano, Mr. Walsh's " hog in armour," is dead the present
;

librarian

is

stone

under his charge.

and ignores the number of volumes
guessed 3200, and were corrected by the

deaf,

We

• Sao Joao lies twenty-foiir leagues
south-west of Ouro Preto, capital of Minas,
and sixty leagues north -noi-th- west of Rio
It is popularly said that a
de Janeiro.
line tlirough Bom Jardim, eighteen leagues
to the south, would reduce the sixty to
They reckon from Sao Joao
fifty leagues.
twenty-eight leagues to Kio Preto, the frontier of Kio de Janeiro, and thirty-four
leagues to the mine of ilorro Vellio.
f In 1859 the annual revenue of the
Camara ranged from 6 000 $ 000 to
:

7 000 $ 000. The taxes (imiiostos) were
Per Provincial Collectorship 21 000 $ 000
22; 000 $000
General (Imperial) do.
,,
:

:

Total taxes

.

.

43

:

000 | 000

Not including imports and exports dues,
and toll bars (Barreiras), which may amount

much

Thus, says Sr. Rodrimore.
the municipality contributes to the
]iublic coffers jnore than one hundred contos
of reis (£10,000) per annum.

to as

gues,

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

lis

" Almanak,"

[chap. xi.

upwards of 4000. The mental x^abuliim
and now hardly legible folios and squat
quartos, which have fed the minds of chui'chmen and the bodies
bookworms. Here, as in old Rome, the library may
of brocas
Avliicli Scays

consists mostly of old

—

sing aloud,
Constrictos nisi das mihi libellos,

Admittam

tineas trucesque blattas.

Sao Joao has reason to remember her literary men. One of
her sons, Manoel Ignacio d'Alvarenga, wrote the " Gruta Americana," and, under the name of Alcindo Palmireno, he was a
member of the " Ai'cadia Mineira."* The second notability was
Joao Antonio Ferreira da Costa, and the tliird was the satirical
Add to the three
Padre Manoel Joaquim de Castro Viana.
poets a number of "sacred orators," the "terrors of sin," and
Besides these, an architect,
eloquent "echoes of the Gospel."
There are
a painter, and a sculptor are quoted by the curious.
two choirs, and fom* "professors of the piano." Every person
of education is, more or less, a musician.
We then proceeded up hill to the Extemato de Sao Joao. This
establishment dates from 1848
it was originally called the
"Duval College," after the founder, Mr. Eicliard J. Duval,t once
an employe in the mines of Sao Jose, mider his cousin, Mr. G. V.
Duval, once Dii-ector of Gongo Soco.
He was followed by a
Frenchman, M. A. M. Delverd, and the school was entitled
Lyceum by the Councillor Carlos Carneiro de Campos. The
site, on the extreme south of the city, is admirable, and commands
;

a noble view.

The

old building once contained the inspection

of gold (Casa da Intendencia), the smelting-rooms (Fundi9ao)I,

the Eesidenc}' of the ouvidors, and barracks for the regulars.

Wholesome and

orderly,

it

has one serious disadvantage.

In

these lands, where Art has not yet acquii-ed sufficient power to
control

Nature, the violent hurricanes that open the Eains,

About four

ordeals of fire and water, are dangerously electrical.
* lie A\as imprisoned by the Count
Rcscnde in the sidjterraneons dungeons of
the Ilha das Cobras, but he must not be
confounded with anotlier famous plotter,
the lyrical poet, Ignacio Jos(^ de Alvarenga Peixoto (Plutarco Brasileiro, por J.
M. Pereira da Silva, pp. 323—330. Kio
de Janeiro, Lacmmert, 18i7).
See chaps.
35 and 36.
t Mr. R. J. Duval made money here,

became Inspector of Traffic on the Dom
Pedro Segundo Kailway, and died in 1861.
His son is, I believe, establislied in commerce at Ilio de Janeiro,
+ Mr. Walsh (ii. 138) gives a good and
detailed account of the gold melting.
however, eiToneously, that in

says,

Minas each Comarca had
and its Casa de Fundi9ao.
been noticed

liy St.

He

old
its Intendencia,

Hilaire.

The eiTor has

CHAP. XI.]

A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO

years ago the fluid struck the

Lyceum

D'EL-REI.

119

a bolis, hke that which

;

entered the church of Stralaund,* Split one of the gable ends,

and only by a mii"acle all the eighty pupils escaped. I should
suggest £5 worth of lightning rod.
We assisted at the geographical lecture delivered by Professor
Copsy, and I supx^lemented a few remarks upon the subject of
Eastern and Central Africa. The ingenuous youths were of the
upper ten thousand, the porcelain not pottery of Society, wellborn, well-dressed, well-behaved, and apparently well disposed to
learn.
Besides this aristocratic establishment, Sao Joao has
humbler schools. There are two " Minerva Lodges." One, the
N'^ S^ das Merces, in the north of the city, presided over by
T>. Policena Tertoliano d'Oliveira Machado.
The second is in
a central situation its inspector-general is Sao Francisco, and
the directress is D. Antonia Carolina Campos d'Andrade.
Om' next step was northwards to the Santa Casa de Misericordia, one of the oldest in Minas.
It was built in 1817, upon
the site of a Poor-house, by Manuel de Jesus, a Spanish monk,
whose funds did not exceed £2. Presently it obtained all the
large sums
privileges enjo^^ed by the sister hospital, Lisbon
Avere left to it, and it added to itself a j)retty whitewashed chapel,
under N^ S^ das Dores.
It has also annexes for the insane,
for lepers, and for contagious cases.
For a free man the charges
The sick annually
are 2 $000 per diem, and 1$500 for slaves.
treated are between sixty and seventy, f
We then turned westwards, passing by the Church of Sao Goncalo
Garcia, belonging to the Confraria Episcopal de Sao Francisco e
Sao Goncalo, aggregated to the convent of Santo Antonio do Eio

—

;

;

de Janeii'o.

To

this

the servile, belong.
ruin of

much

Order

The

men

and

of all colours

building

is

exposm-e, and doubtless

a

mere

it

shell,

classes, except

an unfinished

will take time to

become

—

mon-

t In 186i 5 the hospital funds
were 95 941 $ 019. The receipts were
was
expenditiu-e
the
10 357 $ 651,
7 800 $ 983, and the lialance in favour
The llecolhimento de
was 2 556 $ 871.
Expostos(Enfanstrouvcs)niadel3:241$000
expended 500 f 000, and had a surplus of

Roman candle. Houses arc often
struck by them, as I have personally witnessed, and nothing but the bolis can
explain the mode in which one of my maps
was burned.

The hospital entrances
the deaths, 51 the cured, 124;
Of
and the number under treatment, 49.
the "exposed" during the same period
five out of the ten died.

* These fire-balls are a frequent form of
lightning assumed in the Brazil as in Eastern Africa, and desei-ving careful observaAt Sao Paulo I have often seen the
tion.
electric fluid ascending in tlie south-eastern
sky, and at the height of alwut GO" pro-

jecting
strous

a number

of globes,

like a

:

:

:

:

12:711$000.

were 224

;

;

—

"

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

120

;

[chap. xi.

God. Near it is a magnificent Cambucaia
Eugenia myrtle four times magnified. Hereabouts also are two noble lofty Sapucaias (Quatele or Lecj^tliis
OUaria), vestiges of the forest primreval, which once adorned the
The aborigines used to extract from it a "cauim"* or
land.
wine the leaf reminded me of the two huge Mangos in H.M.'s
Consulate Fernando Po. The heavy pot-like fruit, evidently the
model of the Indian or indigenous pottery, and so celebrated as
a monkey trap, and so loved by the Macaw, renders it as
dangerous to sleep under as an African Calabash, a Hindostani
"Jack," or a Borneo Doriyan. The mighty arms bear the neat
little mud-huts of the Furnarius, here known as Joao de Barros
(John Clay, Merops rufus or Turdus Figulus). The tenements
are shaped in miniature lilie the items of a Kafi Kraal, and the
single small entrance is not faced in any x^articular direction

House

a decent

of

tree, resembling a

;

neighbours often turn their backs to each other, civilized as
Londoners or Parisians. Tliis reddish j^ellow merle often amuses
I

travellers.

on the

have

road before

felt in

w^hen seeing

society

me, evidently

attract

to

them hopping
and

attention,

chattering amazingly, with the apparent hope of a reply.
this case

we

certainly need not ask J. J.

Rousseau f

if

In

birds con-

fabulate or no.

As we

are about to

mspect the show-Church of Sao Joao,

if

not of Minas Geraes, a short sketch of ecclesiastical architecture
in this part of the Brazil
first

may be

ad\isable.

In former times the

thought of the successful gold miner or speculator was to

build and to

endow a temple

building.

were not

;

;

hence the mordinate number of

and the exceedmg rareness of a modern
But though masons were easily procurable, architects
consequently the churches speak well for the piety and

fanes in the older

cities,

intelligence of the ancient Mineiro, but badly of his " mstruc-

* The T. D. explains Caulm by Vinho,
and Cauim tata, literally " fire -water, " by
agua ardente.
The word is generally derived from Caju (the Cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale) and yg water
that
:

fruit supplied the favourite fermentation.
"Cauim," like "Koumis," is so diflFer-

ently

written by travellers that it can
hardly be recognized for instance, Caoui,
Caouy, Caowy, Kaawy, etc.
It is a generic term, and applied to some thirty-two
diflferent
preparations of manioc, plan;

tains, maize, pine-apple, sweet-potato,

and

or wild.
Prince
Max. (i. 115) compares the chewed form
with the Ava or Kava described by Cook in
Oceanica.
f The last view of this celebrated character, the " eleuthero-maniac, " is taken
by Sr. Castilho (Excav. Poet. )
sugar-cane,

'

cidtivated

Joao Jacques (certo animal
trata de educagao).
John James, a certain animal who of
man's education treats.
'

Que

'

'

A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO

CHAP. XI.]

The

tion."

couthless

it

;

style

D'EL-REI.

121

mostly introduced by the Jesuits is heavy and
combine the vertical lines of the Gothic

tries to

with the horizontal length of classical architecture, and

The

fails.

must not expect

traveller

it

notably

to find the pillared aisles,

Lady Chapels, the Strypes, or the Chapter
Houses of the Eastern Hemisphere. When the building is subcruciform, the arms of the transept are concealed by sacristies,

the clerestories, the

corridors,

and other conveniences which occupy the space between
Few also are carved and coffered ceilings a

the double walls.

;

plain curtain covering the throne takes the place of altar veils,
frontals and super-frontals
there are no desk or pulpit hangings,
no book covers or elaborate markers in fact, ecclesiastical
fripjjery shines by its absence.
Nothing like the Pantheon or the Cathedral of Rouen has yet
been attempted here. The Church Brazilic is the humblest form
of that Palatial Hall of Justice and Sacred Temple which
Brazilian enthusiasts derive from the Tabernacle in the mlderness.
The integrity of the Palace, however, has been split up
into nave and chancel.
This plan may be grandiose enough when
;

—

But
upon the stranger is that he stands in a
barn, and the effect is very humble when it lacks the

dimensions are those of the old cathedral at Baliia.

its

generally the
large

ph^'sical

On

first effect

element of grandeur

—greatness.

the other hand, the Church in the Brazil has the advantage

of not reqmi'mg any frontage-rhumb
lies

north, south-east, or west.

;

It is

from

tliis

region Jerusalem

almost always built on the

highest and prettiest

site, and there is a fine oj^en space in front
which St. Paul's and AVestminster must sigh in vain. The
dangerous encroaching system of older cities is unknown, the
acid-laden staining atmosphere of our towns is absent, and
where not a chimney can be found, the "gathered gloom" of
"smuts" is not to be dreaded.
The sombre sadness of an

for

iron-railed

London

square, with its "prison-look,"

is

of course

growth of trees, and the admu-able
supply of water, form natural and artistic ornaments always at
hand.
The Church of the Third Order of Sao Francisco, our old

wanting.

Grey

Finally, the rapid

Friars, opposed to the Black Friars or Dominicans, belongs

numbering upwards of 5000 members, mostly
Like their brethren of the Carmo, they are independent

to a brotherhood

males.

—
TPIE

122

HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

[chap. xi.

and their accounts are forwarded for
The temple
inspection to theii' head- quarters at Rio de Janeiro.
is built on the highest part of its square, the approach has a fair
flight of stone steps leading to the paved " Adro " or platform.
There is a two-beaked fomitam fed b}- the southern hills, and
sj'mmetr}^ demands a correspondmg feature on the other side.
The Cemetery of the Brotherhood lurks behind the church, and
the modest Hospicio dos Irmaos da Terra Santa Hospice of the
of parochial jurisdiction

;

Brothers of the Holy Land

—

—

acts as a foil to the pile.

It has been said that the architect of the Siio Francisco used
no rule but a compass there is not a straight line save the
the chosen form is oval, the division is into bays, and
vertical
even the tiled roofs are curved. The dimensions are 240 by
64 palms, and masonry is so solid that the walls contain the
An
flights of pulpit steps, which are some three palms broad.
inscription over the main entrance gives the date of birth 1774.
Local tradition declares that it was built over a humble chapel
Avhich was allowed to remain, like the old woman's hut under the
Palace roof of Anushirwan the Just. What an easy way to win
fame
The facade is two-wmdowed, the pediment is crowned
with the two-armed Grecian or Sepulchran Cross, and the
;

;

!

tympanum

bears Jesus

Crucified,

St.

Francis

receiving

the

Over the main entrance
are the instruments of the Passion, and the " arms," literally
and metaphorically, of the *' Orago," or Patron Saint; the
pyramid is capped by a N* S* da Conceicao in stone clouds
amongst fat-faced cherubs, who display upon a substantial roll,
Stigmata, and sundry accompanunents.

Tota pulchra

Macula

Maria, et

es

originalis

non

est in Te.

shows how early the Iberian dogma, erst so popular in
Catholic England, had been recognised by the Brazil, and how

Tliis

readily the "progressive doctrine" of the co-redemptoress will

be accepted.

The

material

is

excellent, a fine steatite, blueish,

and

at

times

when the usual bits of octohedral ii'on
high polish. The sculpture suggests woodwork,

of an apple gTeen, which,
are rare, takes a

with very laborious
of a handless

out this

i^art

alt-reliefs

;

it is

the handicraft

man, w^hose labom's we
of the

Province.

He

—Hibernice

shall find scattered throughis

generally

known

as the

A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO

CHAP. XI.]

AleijacTo or Aleijadinlio *

D'EL-EEI.

123

—

the Cripple or the Little Cripple
some
him O Ignacinho, little Ignatius, others Antonio Francisco.
His work was clone with tools adjusted hy an assistant to the
;

call

stumps which re^^reseuted arms, and his

is

not the only case on

record of surprising activity in the trunk of a man, or of a
woman. Witness the late Miss Biffin.

The '' clocheria," is 150 palms high, and of a shape peculiar to
and very common in Minas Geraes parallelograms made quasi
cylindrical hy pilasters fittmg close to the angles
the capitals
are quamt, partty Corinthian, partly composite exceedingly.
This may he called the "round-square" tower style, and it

—

;

has nothing but the originality of eccentricity to recommend

Young

by imitating,

it.

young people, should learn that genius begins
and ends by creating when the latter process

peoples,

lilve

;

precociously precedes the former, the results are apt to be tasteless, ungraceful,

grotesque.

The

capital defects of the belfries

mere ovens, apparently copied from the white
ant's nest or the hut of " John Clay."
Both should be puUed
down and replaced by sometliing harmonising with the body of
the church.
They are easily ascended, an u-on railing makes
them safe, and the peal of four bells is better than usual.
Passing round the poHshed " Tapa-vento " of neat workmanship, the gift of the good Mrs. Lee, we sight a hall of which Sr.
Rodrigues says, "nada deixa a desejar." f Let me softly whisper,
coloured glass and finished panels to begin with.
The blues and
whites look cold and raw, even in this glorious sunshine, and the
beautiful cabinet woods of the Brazil are washed and painted to
resemble marble run mad. The balustrade of the upper gallery,
whence candelabra are hung, is tinted red. And from the centre
hangs a huge lustre -with some thirty- six lights, much more fitted
are their domes,

for theatre

The

than for fane.

choir, as usual in the Brazil,

overhangs the entrance.

It

supported by a low, dark splayed arch of such a span, and so
shallow a sag, that it merits the title of Manoelesque, as seen in

is

glorious Lisbonian Belem.
all

*

Sj'enite enables it to

stand despite

the thrust, and the designer's initials deserve a i)h^ce
Aleijadiulio

nickname

was,

I

liclieve,

tlic

a X'^iintcr, Josd (.xon^alves,
who lived at Rio de Janeiro (Pequeno Panorama da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, por
Moreira de Azevedo.
Rio : Paula Brito,
of

ISOl.

Vol.

this worthy,

procure

i.

I

it.

There is a life of
have never been able to

77).

p.

but

upon

it.

f It leaves nothing to be desired.

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

124

"

"

[(iiap.

xi.

There are the normal six-side altars.* Of the Sanctuary (Capella
M6r) we may remark that chancel and nave have different ceilings.
The curved steps and the pavement are of iwlished stone. The
throne and its lateral niches display twisted and festooned
columns of white and gold, much cut and carved with painted
cherubs of rmpleasantly "jolly" exjiression-f
the Santissima Trindade in life-sized figures.
distinguished from the

The Retahle
The Creator

is
is

Preserver by a red cloak and a gold

Dove in red and Avhite hovering between
Underneath is a large figure of N* S^ da Concei^ao
supported by Santa Kosa de Viterbo, and Santa Isabel Rainha de
" Tudo," says the guide-book, " infunde resjoeito." t
Portugal.
What would my old tutor Mu'za Mohammed Ali, the Shu'azi,
triangle for a crown, a

them.

have said to

The

all this ?

Brazilians have to a considerable extent inherited the art

of wooden statuary, in which Ebro-land has excelled the world.
Here the chef-d'oeuvre is Sao Pedro de Alcantara, torn dress and
all, cut out of a single block.
The most worshipful is the
Senhor Bom Jesus do Monte Alverne, of which the following
tale is told.
The Order being simultaneously in want of a
statue and of funds, issued tenders
an unknown Person offered
himself, and required for earnest-money only the material and
;

the implements of his craft, rating his labours at a fau' round

sum. In due time he presented his work to the Sodality
and disappeared.
Sensible men suppose that it was some
sinner who took this cmious path of penance for the health

We

of his

soul.
waited to see the image, but of the Sacristan the only obtainable tidings were " 'Sta na riia,"§
a general

—

* The altars on the right are,
1. S. Luiz de Franga, S. Boaventiira (St.
Good Luck), Santo
Antonio and the Menino Dens.
S. Pedro
de Alcantara, Santa
,, 2.
Qniteria and S. Bento (not to

No.

1.

S.

be confounded with

S.

Bene-

dito).
,,

On

Jesus crucified kissing S. Francisco de Assis (the patron of
the missioners who built Californian San Francisco), supported by S.
Francisco de
Paulo and a Pope.
In the
base of the altar S. Francisco
de Assis, dead.
the left the altars are,—
3.

Francisco

de Assis, S. Joao
and the Holy

Neiwmuceno

No.

Family.
,,

2.

S.

Lucio,

Santa Bona (who was
S. Domingo, and S.

married),

,,

3.

Joao Evangelista.
Santa Margarita de Cortona, S.
Roqiie, S. Joao and Nepomuceno.

The system

of six side altars appears to
be general throughout Minas, where some
churches are crowded to accommodate
them.
+ " Serafins de semblantes risonhos.
J " All inspires respect.
§ "He is at present in the street," i.e.,
unconventionally.
not at home

—

CHAP.

XI.

A WALK ABOUT SAO JOAO

J

D'EL-REI.

125

reply to enquiries touching whereabouts in a Brazilian country

town.

Further south, and commanding a noble view, is the poor
Bom Jesus do Bomfim. It is fronted by four
palms, and the knobby hill is thinly grown with wild grass * and
chapel of Sr.

the smaller Grama, f both yellow with hunger and thirst.

on June
Elvas and had the
this

Ava}',

17, 1842, the revolutionists

marched

in

B3'

from

mercy. A month afterwards the
met here and solemnly approved of the moveThe acting President made the common fatal error of
city at their

Provincial deputies

ment.

leaving 500

men under

Alvarenga, one of his best

garrison duty instead of taking the

September 7, the
Independence Day.
Descending the

Sociedade

field.

Ypirunga

officers, to

Finally, here,

meets

to

do
on

celebrate

we enter the Post

Office, a gauge of
room, and three clerks
who never heard of "postal deliver}'." I This is a poor allowance in a city which has, like old Ilchester, a dozen churches,
which bm'ns 48001bs. of wax per annum, and where there is a
hill

civiUzation in the Brazil.

specialist tailor
*

We

who makes Padres'

Capim do Campo.

Graminlia.
J Until very few years past, travellers
in the United States made the same com-

f

find one

clothes.

The Twopenny Post in England
dates only from 1683, when David MuiTay
of Paternoster Row projected it.

plaint.

—

CHAPTEK

XII.

THE NORTH OF SAO JOAO

D'EL-REI.

" X3Lo ha utna pedra posta pela mao do horoem no centro de suas Cidades, que nao
exprima iima idea, que nao represente uma letra do alphabeto da civilisafao."
Manoel de Aravjo Porto Alegre.
*S'/-.

We

completed the

compatriots in the
best street in the

northern town by visitmg our

circle of the

Rna da Prata, the
cit}".
They loaded

local Belgravia,

and the

us with small presents,

the Balanus tintinnabulum, and specunens of gold from the old

magnetic iron, and water-rolled jasper, the true diamond formation of Bagagem.* "We carried off a valuable prescription,
Avhich I have called Dr. Lee's pills,
a single seed of the Eipit,

—

cinus

communis taken every

He

raUy the colojihon.

thii'd

Society for making so easy what

We

hour, the third being gene-

deserves a medal from the
is

Hmnane

some ahnost impossible.

to

were shown the " Azeitona da Africa

—African

olive tree

a slu'ub fifteen feet high, with a tea-like flower and dome-shaped
It produces

foliage.

at all seasons

some

five tlu*ee-sided

nut

proportionally the}' are

:

more

Christi.t

A

less oil,

for culinary purposes.

We

fit

also

deposits in

round capsules containing

almonds, about the size of a quarter hazel
oleaceous than the

quarter of a bushel gives

five bottles

saw the Brazihan copal, of wliich there are large
Minas and Sao Paulo these came from near Oli;

veira, sixteen leagues to the north-west.

as

it is

Palma

of clear odour-

vulgarly called,

is

This " Breo," or pitch

the produce of extinct forests, com-

posed of various Hymeneas, and semi-mineralized by heat and
pressm-e.
Like that of East Africa, it shows the " goose-sldn,"
or

imprmt

of sand;

it

often contains

Dr.^ Couto named the
place Nova
Lorena in hononr of his patron, but this
was not endorsed by the people.

flies,

and

bits of bark; it is

-|I saw only one slinib in tlie garden of
D. IVIaria Benedicta, and did not recognize
it as an African growtli.

— —
CHAP.

THE

XII.]

OF SAO JOAO D'EL-REI.

l>rOHTH

affected b}" spirits of wine,

and

it

127

almost dissolves in

ffitlier

and

cliloroform.
This most dm'able of varnishes was exported to
Em'ope early in the present centmy, before the African coasts,
It
east and west, supplied an article preferred by the trade.
will again

appear in our markets when the labour-market in the

The

Brazil shall become moderate.

make

aborigines used to

—

from the live-green, or raw copal the " chakazi " of Zanzibar
"labrets," or hp ornaments of the brightest amber colour they
were subconical cyHnders, a foot long and of finger thickness,
a hollow tube of bamboo thrust into the tree serving for a mould.
They were fixed by a chminutive crutch to the lower lip, and they
;

hung down

pump

lilve

handles to the wearer's breast.

"We were also shown specimens of indigenous Vanilla, prepared
by our hosts. The pods are strung upon a line, hung to dry in
the smi and

every day, but not

aii'

interval, the oil of the

of a feather.

Some

till

too dry

Azeitona da Africa "

'*

split

is

;

twice, with

applied by

them and insert sugar or
known in the Brazil

valuable growth has long been

salt.
;

an

means
This

a colonial

law of 1740 forbids it to be cut. The author of the poem " Caramuru," fii'st printed in 1781, sings of it (Canto 7, st. 47)

A

baunillia nos sipos clesponta,

Que

tern

Nasce

De um

But

whilst

no chocolate a parte sua

em

bainhas,

como paos de

suco oleoso, grato o cheiro e acre.*

Spaniards

the

:

lacre,

exploited Vajaiilla

Vanilla), even in their age of gold

and

silver,

(Epidendron

the Portuguese,

and Mineiros, systematically neglected
and our popular books ignore it. Yet the xolant grows wild
in the greater part of the intertropical Brazil, and in places
perfumes the air. It seems, therefore, to be reproduced without
The pods given to us at Sao Joao were large, fleshy, and
art.t
they preserved tlieu' characteristic fragrance for months.
dark
very
especially the Paulistas

it,

;

We

resumed our way over the Ponte do Eosario

Southern city.
chm-ch which

To
fell

our

left are

to visit the

the ruins of " Sfio Caetano," a

in or about 1864,

and which has

not been

She is
borne in sheaths, like .sticlcs of scaling wax,
with an oily juice and a grateful pungent

+Prof. MoiTen of Liege proved that the
reproductive organs of the Vanilla planifolia
have peculiarities v.hich require artificial
in IMexico this process is
fecundation

smell."

effected

* "In lliaiia-sliape hangs the
which takes her place in chocolate.

vanilla,

;

by an

insect.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

128

restored.

A

That ohl saw, the nearer the kirk the
and throughout
the Age of Faith must be followed by the Age of
hopeful sign

farther from grace, is

the Brazil,

Work

!

of general significance,

moreover, roads will build churches, but churches will not

;

make

[chap. xii.

The

roads.

o altar

mor

—much

mor, or local

peculiarity of that

temple was a chancel

larger than the nave.

A

Commandant, commanded the

certam Guarda-

architect to

make

it

and silenced the objectors of " ii'regularity " with " Tvido
quanto e mor, e ma'ior."* The same church bore the insolent
inscription, "
Key depende de nos, e nao nos delle," " The king
depends upon us, not we upon him." My authority remarks
hereupon, so prodigal of fidalguia or gentility were these men
who, mostly arrant roturiers in the Old "World, pm'chased titles
and "founded families" in the New.
We proceeded up the Eua da Prata with difiicult}'. There
is sometimes a raised sidewaj' in the flagged streets, but both
The black kidney-shaped
street and way are equally atrocious.
cobble-stonest are as slippery as they are hard, and the new
comer's gait suggests that of one practising hop-scotch. The
effects upon the hallux and the digit minim of the Sao Joaand might not all or much of the evil be
nensis must be sensible
cart-loads
remedied by a few
of gravel, or well bruised macadam ?
Of com'se not a wheeled vehicle is to be seen " carriage people "
must content themselves with an old-fashioned sedan chair, or
a " bangue,"+ an overgrown palanquin carried by two mules. En
remnche the city is well supplied with water, and if money were
expended every square and street could have its fountain. At
l^resent there are three large Chafarizes, and springs whose waters
men prefer, are still scattered about the neighbourhood. Some,
we were told, have disappeared, and the rains, which as usual in
these Highlands of the Brazil, formerly began in August, now
defer tlieii" break till the end of November
the cause is probably
so,

—

—

—

;

—

disforesting.

We
*

ourselves thoroughly well Diorgiu's by the juvenile

find

population

;

stared at with ten-Cornish power

" Whatever

It contains

The same

is greater must be bigger."
an untranslatable jeu de mots.

idea, expressed liy^?'o?ifZ

and ^^ros,

passed between Napoleon the Great and his
librarian, when the latter objected the
bigness of a volume.
+ Pedras de ferro.

;

we have our por-

J The word is the Hindostani "Banghi."
The article is the Takht-rawan of the
Meccan pilgrimage, of humbler form and
without camels. I have published a sketch
of the camel litter in my "Pilgrimage to EI

Medinah and Mecca''

(vol.

1.

305).

;

THE XOUTil OF SAO JOAO

XII.]

ciiAi'.

taken mentall}', as

traits

if

each

paii*

U'EL-REI.

129

of eyes belonged to a turn-

At Barbacena the youth prospected us open-mouthed
they furthermore protrude the tongue, not wantonl}', howbut in mere wonder. The citizens are described as high-

key.
liere

ever,

spirited, intelUgent,

fond of study, and anxious for information

the ciuiosity of the juniors promises well,

—without

;

curiosity there

We

remarked sundry scattered Ermidas, or small
hand there is no fixed market, and the
Quitanda,* or res mercatoria, is exposed in the usual " Q.uatro
The tailors' favourite
Cantos," or place where four streets meet.
This we understand
place is on the sweet shady side of the way.
is

no enquiry.

On

oratories.

when

the other

told that for the last four years the

ature has been 42° (F.)

were to

let,

and there were signs of depreciated property

Joao, smce the end of its second and last aurea
built for 50001.,

half

its

minimum of temper(F.)
Many houses

and the maximmn 88°

at a time too

present price,

now

when

setas.

laboiu* averaged less

But here

sells for 750/.

Sao

at

A "palacete "
than

as elsewhere,

there are tln-ee distmct estimates; viz., that of the buyer

(

—

),

( + ), and that of the appraiser (+ or =).
Sighting the N* S^ do Rosario, we did not requii*e to be told

that of the seller

that

it

is

the especial worship-place of the "

Homo

niger."

It

shows tawdry coarseness in colour and form there are no campaniles, the last belfry having been pulled down to prevent its
coming down a silver lamp, w^eighing 900 ounces, lately stolen,
and probabl}' by one of the brotherhood, has left the order poor.
The Hamites have a better cemeter}- than church over the doorway of the well chosen situation is a skull, not dolichoceijhalic as
it should be, based upon the distich,
;

;

;

Ell fui o

que tu ea.
que eu sou.

Til seras o

to

f

which we anthropologically demur.
At the wall base of the Rosario we were shown

Astrea," or figure

of Justice,

* In the Bunda tongue Kwitanda, by the
Portuguese written Quitanda, is the marketand Standa is explained as venda,
place
;

Feira, or emporium
thus,
"to the sale" would be somewhat like the
"Eis ten polin," which became Stamboul.

venditio, also

in the Brazil, Quitanda,

VOL.

I.

;

is

not the site of

in

a "

Deusa
and

stone, lialf decapitated,

but invariably the thing sold (mon
marche, as the French cook says) and
"Quitandeira" is the woman who sells it.
" I ^'^^ what thou art thou shalt be
t
wliat I am."
Sao Joao has not yet established a branch of the Anthropological
Society of London.
sale,

:

K

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

130

[chaf. xii.

upon the ground this elicited some small wit. Presently
we reached the Igreja Matriz, whose patroness is N^ S*" do Pilar,
l3ang

;

and which unites the brotherhoods " dos Passos (the Passion), do
Sacramento, da Boa Morte, de Sao Miguel, das Almas (the Souls,
i. e, in Pm-gatorj-), and de Santa Cecilia."
I will spare description of it after Sao Francisco.
The building dates from 1711,
except the modern facade, the work of Sr. Candido Jose da
Silva.
There are six side chapels and one tipstaii's for the

The high altar is, lilce the two pulpits, of old wood
and its ceiling is gilt, painted and panelled, whilst
that of the nave is the smiplest tunnel or half barrel
and,
sacrament.

thickly

gilt,

;

curious to say, the temple

ment votes small annual sums
rally

want a

As

is finished.

to the

*'

the Provincial Govern-

Matrizes," the latter gene-

last touch.

"We rested in the house of the Latin Professor at the Lyceum,
Dr. Aureliano Pereira Correa Pimental.
That high literary
tastes are not extmct in Sao Joao, may be proved by the fact,
that tliis gentleman is teaching himself Hebrew and Sanskrit.

He kindly gave me the satii-es, epigrams, and other poems of
Padre Jose Joaquim CoiTea de Almeida, * and he recommended
to me for translation the Assumpgiio of Frei Francisco de Sao
Carlos,

t

Some

noble traits are recorded of the Professor.

I

modesty the pain of seeing them in print; but there
are few men with more family than substance, who will unasked
reduce the interest upon an inheritance fi'om fifty per cent, to

will spare his

five.

The end

of our long peregrination

was to the church of N^
Order of that invocation
its principal benefactors were the
Barao de Itambe
and the late Joao da Silva Pereii'a Gomes.
The fa9ade ornaments of cut steatite, with fanciful initials and cherubs worked by
the Crijjple, the round-square towers with composite pilasters, and
the internal consoles and columns were those of Sao Francisco.
Its interior was being refitted with cedar wood, cut by a selftaught man, Sr. Joaquim Francisco de Assis Pereii'a; it will
S^ de Carmo,

administered by the

Tliii'd

;

*Riode Janeiro, Laemmert, 1863.
TAAssumpgao da Santissima Virgem,
now a Brazilian classic, published Rio de
Janen-o, 1819. The author was born in
the
J^ranciscan Convent of the Immaculate
Conception, August 13, 17G3, and there died.

or rather exhaixstecl himself

by

mortifica-

on May 6, 1829.
It was liis object
to mix, with praises of the %-irgin, descriptions of his "beautiful country" (no.sso
bello paiz), and he has certainly succeeded,
tions,

CHAP.

THE NORTH OF SAO JOAO

XII.]

fissuredty, despite all

D'EL-EEI.

131

our deprecations, be whitewashed and

Pity that routine forbids

to be left

it

au naturel

;

gilt.

the theatre

should be as brilliant as possible, but the dim religious light
far better

becomes the delubra deorum.

The Terceiros

(Tliii'd Order) of the Carmo, have housed their
dead better than their living, in above-ground catacombs some
eighty feet west of the church.
The square cemetery measuring
400 palms in cu-cumference, with walls 28 palms high, has

good grated doors,* with the
J. J. F. (Jesuino

initials

A

Jose Ferreira),

of the Portuguese artist,

small mortuary chapel fronts

the entrance, the interior has cloisters like the

Campo Santo

of

Pisa in miniature, and in the thickness of the walls are tiers of
catacombs, family vaults apparently often wanted.

We had worked like horses through the livelong day, and we
were only too glad to house ourselves. Professor Pimental dined
with us, our fellow-countrymen were also there, and the result
was a highly satisfactory symi^osium with a musical clooping of
Rare indeed are they

corks.

—these noctes coenseque deum.

We

separated as the small hours chimed, promising to breakfast at

Matosmhos on the morroAv.t
Before leavmg Sao Joao I ascended

its

Serra of notable me-

mory, under the guidance of a Pdo-Grandense, the Capitao
Christao Jose Ferreira.
There is a fine bird's-eye view of the

some 150 feet long, leading to
whose confraternity, black and

city at the top of the step-flight,

Capella dos Mercenarios,

the

indigenous,

is

entitled

N"

S"*

das Merces.

From

this

place

on the rough slope we could see the General Cemetery crowning
the hill on oiu* right, the old Matriz below, with the northern
city clustering around it, and bottoming all the rivulet that
picciol fiumicello

Lo cui

*

"Ramagem,"

our

rossore ancor

"ramage"—branch-

ery.

+ Future

travellers,

who have more

lei-

sure than ve had ai-e advised to visit the
fall or rapids of the Carandahy river, and
the "Sao Thome das Litras," eighteen
leagues to the south-west, and nine leagiies
from Campanha. It is described a.s a little
town, built upon the serra of the same

name.

The

literary

name comes from a

rock v.ithin sight of the square,

and

in-

?

mi

raccapriccia,

scribed with tlie letters S T (Sao Tbomd).
The educated at the spot declare that this
and other ciu-ious shapes, especially an
ounce perfectly outlined, are produced by
The madecaying roots and vegetation.

laminated sandstone,
and the
infiltration of oxide of iron produces between
I have seen
the slabs these dendrites.
them in railway cuttings near Sao Paulo.
terial,

however,

is

elastic or non-elastic (Itacolumite),

132

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

whilst on the

mound

hap.

[(

xii.

opposite, the show-church, Sao Francisco,

pride of the southern quarter, completed the prospect.
Thence, ascending a jagged hill, where building stone was being
blasted, we sighted the ancient gold "diggins." This was the true
El Dorado of El Dorado, the focus of the auriferous foci, all gashed
and pierced for gold, with pits, fodinas, and quarries, now filled
with sand, and broken down by weather into ravines which drain
The birth-place of the ore was the
the Serra at right angles.
upper rock-ridge thence it was weathered into the lower levels.
There was also a formation called Jacutinga, of which more
;

hereafter

;

suffice

here to say, that

it is

75

— 84

ceous iron, based probably upon specular or
gold in lines and potholes.

To

a hideous

colonial fanes of

chapel, like the

our

left

of mica-

j^er cent,

oligiste,

lay the

N'''

S'''

with free

do Monte,

modern Spanish

windowed (two red shutters being the windows),
single doored, and suggesting a noseless face.
Near the Igreja
do Carmo we found no traces of the large muddy pool, or waterpit.
At the quarry bottom there, says Mr. Walsh, the citizens
used wistfully to peer for drowned and buried treasures, and we
asked in vain for Dr. Such his tank. After inspecting the waterworks we returned "home," via the Kua da Allegria, "of gladness," wliich till lately bore, said our guide, the "less honest"
colonies, double

name

of

Eua da

Cacha9a, or

Bum Street.

Thus, chez nous, Grass

Church Street became Grace Church Street.
We are about to visit the " St. John Del Eey Mining Company (Limited)," which here began its operations and these we
may prospect in situ. Its bu-th date was April 5, 1830, and on
May 4 it sent from Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro nineteen men,
under then." commissioner, the late Mr. Chas. Herring, Jun. The
contract* gave permission to work the mmeral grounds imme;

diatel}^

north of the

cit3\

The

deposits were found in a great

lode parallel to a valley 1320 yards long by 150 broad, and in

small veins perpendicularly offsetting from it.
The native
workings had consisted of an open trenchmg,f and their miners
had opened at Dr. Such's tank an ii'regular quarry 110 feet deep.
Their pumping gear of bucketed wheels, each worked by eight
As security for the gold duty being
paid, the licence required a deposit fund
of 50 contos of reis in Brazilian apolices
or Government bonds, to be \ised by

the

Imperial

interest.

£3,713

treasury

witliout

These were sold in
13s.

Ud.

f Talho abero.

payiug

1834

for

vuw.

xTi.J

THE NORTH OF SAO JOAO

D'EL-llET.

133

tell men, had failed, and the pit was soon filled up with mud
and water to within thirty feet of the edge.
In August, 1830, an open-cut, adit-level, faced on both flanks
with stone work, was begun from the rivulet side to the east. It
proved the main lode, whilst its course cut the cross-veins below
the depth reached bj'' former miners.
Moreover, it drained the
surface water deposited during the rains.
In those da^-s the dry
season above ground began in April, underground in July, and
this gave but foiu* clear months.
The "shaft of St. John" was
sunk about the same time in favourable ore ground, west of the
tank.
On the east was commenced a second shaft for sump or
drainage.
Both served for ventilation, and were provided with
"whims" or "gins,"* for pumj^ing and drawing stuff. Dams
were erected to secure washing during the dries, and dwellings,
store-houses, offices, and other "surface-works," were put up.
The superintendent and mine agent obtained rights to water
courses, and then commenced the normal operations of blasting,
pulverizing, and fanning in the Batea,t followed by the more
scientific process of smelting and amalgamating the pyritiferous
matter, which was sent to London for assay.

or

The

amounted to ;£2,310. The
and in 1835, after incurring a loss
of ^026,287 18s. 4d., Mr. Herring transferred himself to Morro
Vellio.
Thus ended, at Sao Joao, the aurea setas No. 2, and since
that time the "mother of gold"! has reigned with little molestotal salaries for the first year

works, however, did not pay

tation.

Up

;

to late years a small quantity of the precious metal,

about £2,000 per annum, has been exported by the municipality.

The industry

* The drums round which are wound the
ropes which draw up the ore.
Tlie
gin
race" is the level "horse round" where
the animals work.
t This Batea corresponds in gold working
with the Calabash of Guinea and the pan of
In the Brazil it
California and Austi-alia.
is of various shapes, sizes, and kinds of
wood usually it is a circular i)latter of
cedar, 1^ feet in diameter, concave, with a
dip of y-.*! inches, and fonning in the centre
of the flattish cone a little hollow (piao da
batSa "the angle of the pan"), into which
It is
the diamonds or the gold dust settle.
worked with the usual rotatory motion that
requires some practice, and the water and
'

'

;

Sao Joao has a
Cotton and woollen

of the city is at a low ebb.

banker, the Capitao Custodio de Almeida.

removed by tilting over and
with the lingers.
Tlie washer sometimes
adds raw rum or aloe juice, or an infusion
of the plants called Capoeira and Itambamba,
which, sprinkled over the contents of the
pan, is supposed to clear them mechanically,
as cold water or the contents of an egg
lighter dirt are

clarifies coffee.

J Miti de Ouro, a Brazilian pixy, who
guards the virgin treasure.
She is rather
whimsical than malevolent; but at times
So
a
little
murder.
the Indians
she does
of the Manitoulin Islands believe that the
ISfanitou has forbidden his children to seek

for gold,

—

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

Ui

plain and striped,

cloths,

are

made by

[chap, xh,

They

the hand.

are

stained with indigo urucu (the well-known Bixa orellana), and
These stuffs are
other dyes in Avhich the country abounds.

and out-last many lengths of machinery-woven

strong,

stuffs

;

but

they are expensive, and the supply hardly suffices for home use.
Tea was grown, and the Padre Francisco de Paula Machado's
preparation, from his chacara on the Barro road to Oliveira, is

Sao Joao, and

largely bought at

is

aj^preciated at

Bio de

are

The

quantities.

m

small
but they are now produced
high lying and healthy campos gromids make

kinds,

of various

Janeii'o.

Hard woods*

Cereals thrive, and tubers everywhere abound.

stock breeding the favourite industry

;

black cattle are tolerably

good, the horses and mules want fresh blood, and the same

may

be said of the hogs that supply the prized "lombo" and
" toucinho." Cheese is also exported. There are large tracts
of bottom land admu-ably fitted for growing cotton, which
might be made a source of wealth. A little " tree-wool," cleaned

and uncleaned, together with hides and leather, is exported to
pay for salt, the prmcipal import, f Of tliis indispensable article,
some 100,000 alqueires are annually introduced for sale and consumption, and it is brought up by mule troops belonging to the
planters and traders.
Sugar-cane supplies spirits and vinegar, with a small surplus
for trade.
In 1859, the municipality contained 48 Engenhos,
or boihng establishments, 30 worked by water and 18 by
bullocks.
In the same year the city numbered 64 stores for
goods, native and foreign, 1 inn (hospedaria), several taverns
(locandas), and 4 druggist's shops (boticas),
'' Carne seca
(charqui) and pork are as usual much consumed, and four
bullocks are slaughtered daily.

Early in the

Hoh'

of the
dinal

Nuno

last century,

Office,

Sao Joao was haunted by a Familiar

appointed by the Inquisitor General, Car-

A

da Cunha.

certam Padre

* Here called "wood of the law" (Madeira da Lei), becaxise in colonial days it

might not be

:

.

.

.

.

The imports

.

.

.

is related,

—

1859 were
wet and dry goods,
:

Salt, iron, pottery,

;

Total

3,508: 800 $000

.

.

2,305 900 $000

Thus showing in favour
a total of 1,202 :900$000
per annum, assuming the
florin).

otal

in

it

without permission.

felled

The Portngnese Madeira is the Latin " Materia" used by Ctesar and others.
+ The exports in 1859 were
IndustiT
1,292:0001000
Commerce
2,216 800 $000
.

Pontes,

:

of
(

produce

= £120,000
milreis = 1

—
cHAi'.

THE NORTH OF

XII.]

,SAO

JOAO

D'EL-EEI.

found himself in the Holy Tribunal's grip.
his condition, he

had forwarded

135

Wisliing to change

follo^^ing questions to the

tlie

Vigario da Vara, the Vicar with juridical powers.

"Pedro the

Priest

dispensation from
the Priest so do ?

liis

mshes

to intermarry with Maria, having a

Holiness to that

effect.

Query, can Pedro

"

The Vicar, an intelligent man, replied
To me it is a vii-gm case, but if Pedro have
:

"

the dispensation,

Pedro can so do."

And
it

:

Pedro, presenting a forged

he was married with

Jose

da

witness.

Freii-ia,

The

the

affair

dispensation, went and did

all

the honours by the Padi-e Sebastiao

Padre

Francisco Justiniano assisting as

was

x'l'esently

bruited

abroad, the deceit

was discovered, the Inquisition was an edged tool in those daj^s,
and the hot amoiuist was consigned to confinement with ugly
prospects.
Escaping, he became " Doctor Vieii-a," and travelled
to Eome, where, the matter being taken in jest, he was pardoned. The actors suffered more than the author of the farce,
both were placed in the hands of the Holy Office ; or,
plain
Enghsh, thrown into the dungeons, now happily turned into

m

stage and green-room.

Padi*e Sebastiao returned home, after
mnocence. Padre Justiniano remained with the
Holy Office: and it is still doubtful whether he was "relaxed"
(relaxado), that is to say, strangled and roasted, or he died in the

justif3'ing his

course of nature, a captive and an exile.

CHAPTER

XIII.

TO AND AT SAO JOSE

D'EL-REI.

" Capitania tao largamente prendada da natiireza, em mil recursos uteis ao
Estado e aos parfciculares, e tao cahida ate ao presents em desemparo e desciiido."
Dr. Couto.

It was Saturday

—begging

da 3' by ancient usage in the Brazil.
and therefore fair game. The Praia was
beset by cripjiles of every kind, and some wore the weekly " proI had never yet seen so much mendicanc}' in so
perty dress "

AVe were

strangers,

—

small a place.

Was

with

me

a person

who

still

believes in the

Knightly and middle-aged legends about alms, and even a share
of bed unwittingly given to individuals of exalted rank in the
Spiritual Kingdom
one of these wretches might be St. Joseph,
:

and the
gathermg of Clan Ragged, the expenditure of small change, the not seemg St. Joseph, and the
frequent seeing " Saint Impudence."
Mr. Copsj^ took advantage of his midsummer vacation, and
It is no light matter to take leave of a
joined our party.
Brazilian wife, especially wdien young and pretty
these ladies
determinedly ignore innocent gipsying, and carefully scrutinize
the gait of the returning mate as he " turns in."
He was not,
therefore, sans soucis, till he had " crossed the first Corrego," *
or something higher.

All, therefore, received coppers,

results were a glorious

:

*"C6iTego"
which
by the

(with

the

acute

accent,

specific

terminology

memory.

tax

so

heavily the

The Corrego

pronounced
jieople " Corgo," and sometimes so
vNTitten in poetry and by the unlearned.
The English turn it to "Corg," iijjon the
same principle that mato becomes "mat,"
restilo,
"restil," dono,
"don," vardo.
j' „
<< 1
,<
1
„
m,
-i'
para, and doce, "dose.
Their ears do

is a rill,
not to be confounded with the Sangradouro
(and the smaller feature Bebedor or Bebedouro), the natural drain of a lake or high
gi-ound, nor with the arroio or arroyo (Arab.

not distinguish the semi-elision of the
final vowel.
And here we may see the
wonderful richness and the exceptional
variety of the Luso-Latin tongue, which
almost ignores general words and whose

mountain stream. It is somewhat larger
than the Regato or rivulet, which again
must not Ite confused with Rego, a leat or
water-coiu'se.
Next is the Ribeiro, a brook,
whose feminine form, Ribeira, classically

raises the voice-tone) is

,

'

'

•

stranger's

.
ii\
A)
•

JU'

--'^

^
n i
-ij.
a fiumara, nullah, or intermittent
•

i.

4.

TO AND AT SAO JOSE D'EL-RET.

Mil.]

riiAP.

where, as (lemons and

Avitclies dislike

137

running water, Atra Cura

stayed behind.

Reaching Matosinhus, the Memorious suburb, we breakfasted
with Dr. Lee and his very agreeable SJio-Joanense wife, whose

kind manner and hospitality, in the shortest possible time,

won

We

wandered about the fine large garden, where
the orange is the most banal of fruits, and we found the
" Sneezer " * growing with Egyptian luxuriance, and a leaf-green
rose with undeveloped petals, ver}^ fragrant was the Verbena
(Verbena Vii-gata, Sellow), a powerful sudorific, used externally
and internally as a cure for snake bites. As a parting j^resent.
Dr. Lee gave nie a mastiff-pup, answering to the name of
" Negra," lank in body, with brindled coat, square head, broad
shoulders, and huge hands and feet.
This is the breed called in
jNIinas Cao de fila, and I have seen specimens which much
reminded me of the thorough-bred English bull dog, not the
toy animal which now goes by that name.
"Negra" nearly
reached the Rapids of the Sao Francisco River before I was
compelled to part with her.
Bidding a regretful adieu to our excellent hosts, we struck
up the Valley of the Rio das Mortes Grande. The stream was
stained possibl}^ by gold washing, and the Ponte de Sant lago
remained as described thu'ty j^ears ago, a crazy frame-Avork of
patched wood, with tiled roof and gravelled footwa}" sixt}- 3'ards
long.
The local authorities have lately bought it for 600/., and
all

our hearts.

thus

it

runs every risk of ruin

these instruments of civiliza-

:

tion should in the present age of the Brazil be farmed to contractors

upon conditions

of moderate tolls and regular repairs.

The road was

especially vile,

intransitable.

I

and after rain it must be almost
have alread}^ spoken of Brazilian lines of com-

munication generall3\

In this Province the Imperial are rare

means a river bank, like Riba (or Ribanccira,
a tell bank). In parts of the Brazil it is iinproperly ajiplied to a lai-ge navigable river,
f y. the " Ribeira de Igiiape. "
Follow tlie
Riacho, a stream
the Ribeirao, a large
and
the
Rio
or
rivei-,
stream
which latter
.

;

;

is

arbitrarily applied

to

minor features.

Many Rio Grandes are mere " creeks. " Each
its incremeutative and diminutive
forms, the latter much aft'ected in these
lands.
Sometimes both arc united wliimsically, but with a specific signification.

term has

"

:

f

for instance, means a
It is applied to a water
stream.
of the class Ribeirao, but small for its
Ribeirao-ship.
* EspiiTadeii'a, Nerium odorum, or Oleander.
The word is sometimes ai)plied to
the sternutative Oi-telao do mato (Peltodon
radicans, one of the Labiadre?)
The pco]ilc do not much admire the Oleander, and
haji^iily ignore its poisonous properties.
f I know only one, that of Philadelphia,

Ribeiraosinlio, "

big

smaU

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

133

[chap. xiii.

funds were voted for a highway to Goyaz, but the municipal
chambers couki not combme, and thus it has not emerged from
the pa2)er stage.

We

many Chacaras now

and recalling the
some two miles
belovv' the bridge, hugging the right bank of the river, and on
The lone spot is
the western road to the Alagoa Dourada.
now known as the Yargem (Meadow reach) de INIarcal Casado
It has been often pointed out as
Rotier, a French-Portuguese.
passed

opulent days of Sao Joao.

A

in

ruins,

classical site lies

the future metropolis of the Brazil.

On the left rose the
Sao Jose Range

;

Serra do Corrego, a south-eastern spm* of the

the jagged mass of lime and sandstone grit

conserves, they say, gold and rock crystal.

At

its

still

base crouched

" Corrego," a rugged hamlet of poor huts and rich fruit trees,

and a little farther on the chapel of N^ S* do Bom Despacho
(of happy conclusion)
it was a neat little place when gold was
abundantly washed from the " Corrego," and it had a pompous
annual festival during the last fifteen j^ears it has been in ruins.
Beyond the northern liills are the Caldas or Thermse de Sao
According to Mr. Coj^sy,
Jose, best known as the Agoa Santa.
the springs have a temperature of 72° (F.), and are rich in carbonate of soda; he compared them Avith those of Buxton, 82° (F.),
good for the rheumatics, and rich in muriate of magnesia and
soda.
Mineral waters are found in many parts of Minas, but
hitherto " balenary establishments " have been greatly neglected,
and patients have had to "rough it " without even lodgmg. Of
late, however, energetic steps have been taken in this matter so
important to the common weal.*
;

;

Presently we crossed the Morro da Candonga,f a lump lying
* In the Kelatoiio, or Annual Eeport of
the President of Minas (Rio Tyiaogi'aphia
Esperan9a, 1867), we find (p. 68), that
measm-es have been adopted to secure accommodation at the mineral waters of
Caxambfi, in the Municipality of Baepondy,
and at the "Aguas Virtnosas" of Cami^anha.
The waters of Baependy are distributed into
'
nine fountains already known.
They contain," says Sr. Julio Augusto Horta Barbosa, "free carbonic acid, carbonates, sulphates of alkaline base, traces of sulphate
of iron and sulphuric acid, probably due to
organic decomposition, and much esteemed
in cutaneous diseases.
The following is the
analysis of the waters in the Sen-a do Picfi.

Acid, Sulphuric

'

0'630 in 1000 grammes, or 1 litre."
f The word means in Portuguese slang,
deceit or trickery, hence a trickster is
It has
called Candongueiro, an intrigiier.
probably come from the coast of Africa.
Total

.

TO AND AT SAO JOSE

CHAP. XIII.]

D'EL-IIEI.

loO

south of the Sfio Jose Range, and deeply pitted with huge ravines

From

like craters of extinct Yolcanoes^.

the summit we saw to

known

the right of the road the calcareous formation

de Pedra,* or more

Gruta de

fjincifully as

as the Casa

Presently

Calj'^pso.

the Trindade church, and Sao Jose, the city, lay below our feet,

The

singular and romantic.

de Santo

basin

is

traversed by the Corrego

Antonio, a tributary of the Rio das Mortes

higher than Sao Joao,f

it

must accumulate heat

damp

cold in cold weather,

in

damp

Stretching from

weather.

north-east to south-west rises the Serra de Sao Jose,

Avhicli divides

the valleys of the Eio das Mortes and the Carandahy

they say, a double

though

;

in hot weather,

line, a gigantic rut bisecting

;

it

forms,

The

the centre.

perpendicular wall, 200 feet high, ultra-Cj^lopean in architecture,

and towering 500

feet

above the basin,

a Jebel

is

not unlike the Palisades on the Hudson.
curious projections,

while the debris
is

the

first

of

fill

stiff

points, pilves, needles,

and organ pipes,

the low lands with felspar and clay slate.

many which we

It

shall presently see, their right lines

and
washed about
S^ da Conceicao de Prados,| under the Ponto do Morro, to

intersecting the country divide

supply to
N'''

Mukattam, and

Its crest bristles with

it

gold.

The

it

into vast compartments,

precious metal

is

still

the north-east.
of the steep " Calcada "

The pavement

was even worse than
and we reached the house of Mr. Robert H.
that of Sao Joao
Milward, to whom our introductory letters had been sent forBut no such luck was
ward, thoroughly prepared to dismount.
in store
Mr. Milward was out of town, and Mrs. IMilward was
;

;

* The usual term for a cave. Mr. Walsli(ii.
223), visited and described the feature. Mr.
Copsy places it at six miles equidistant from
Sao Joao, and Sao Jose and near the RioElvas.

communicating

witli the open.

I

am

tired

of glancing at caverns, after the Mammoth
and Adelsberg, and there Avas no pic-nic to

justify the loss of a day.

The site is an isolated, calcareous upheaval,
some 300 feet raised above a mere brejo, or
swamp, and about 440 yards long. The
natural tunnel is the model of a subterraneous river bed. The ceiling has stalactitic
jags, and saw-teeth, the sides are worked
and turned by the water bath, and the bottom is clay, still preserving tlie bones of
The party walls of thin
extinct animals.
calcaire, form the usual curios. The " pulpit " of Gothic style, and the "Chiux-h,"
lead to a dark passage, opening upon tlic

t This is proved by our ascending
nearly the whole way. ]\I. Gerber does not
give the altitude, which is popularly sup-

"Gruta do Lustre," Grot

workshops,

of the ChandeBehind this ai-e a limestone column
bulge
another
chambered
the latter
and
lier.

:

—

We mayreposed to be 5300 5400 feet.
duce it to 2500 feet, a little below that of
Bai-bacena.

J Prados, nine miles from Sao
likely to

become important,

as one

Jose,

is

of the

Alagoa
head waters of the Rio dc

stations on the future railway, via

Dom-ada

to the

Sao Francisco.
the

At present the

little to\ni is

articles

each.

are

sold

speciality of

saddlciy, supplied by 20

hands: the
wholesale for 20|000

employing

150

!

THE HKIHLAXDS OF THE BRAZIL.

140

[cHAr. xiir.

not visible to us, although we were thoroughly visible to her.
retraced our steps upwards through a sprinkling of " JacuTheii" only occubeiros,"* some of them " Gente de Casaca."t

We

pation,

when not making

shoes,

seemed

to be playing "peteca,"

I

hand shuttlecock,

in favour with both sexes.
"We did
"
"
chicken-fixins
inn
find
at
the
kept
the
Capitao
by
expect
to
not

a kind of

Severino, better

disappointed.

known

Happily

" Joaquimsinho," and we were not

as

for us, however,

Saturday

is

beef day at

Sao Jose.
Whilst the beef was being manipulated, we wallved to the
southern slope of the basin and inspected the Matriz dedicated to
Santo Antonio. According to the chroniclers, § it is the most
beautiful and majestic in the province; it is finety situated, facing
the mountains, the town, and the Riverine valleys and lowlands
to the east. According to local tradition, it was built about 1710,
by the Margal Casado Kotier, and the sacraments were first
administered in 1715. In those days of pristine piet}' the wealthy
founder sent every Saturday night a gang of 200 slaves, each
carr3'ing a pan of auriferous earth
hence the ^rnddle walls are
mixed with gold as the pise of the Dahoman palace is kneaded
;

Avith rxim or

The

human blood

— honoris causa.

and resembles the Sao
Bento of Rio de Janeiro it is, however, more primitive, tawdr}-,
and grotesque. The nave is rectangular, "\Nith frescoes of very
poor art, life-sized saints, Gregory and Ambrose, Augustine
and Jerome, with the Annunciation, the Magi, and the creche or
st3de is the barocco or old Jesuit,
;

crib of

Bethlehem.

The

ceiling is a half hexagon, with panels

* Jacubeiros de Sao Jose, a highly invidious term, equivalent to coxmtry-bnmpkin,
applied by the neiglibonring SiioJoanenses.
Disputes about "urban precedency " here ran high as they ever did

between Perth and Dundee. Jaciilia is
servile food, and Padre Cori-ea sings of a
bad lot.
(Epistola, p. 24.)
,,

-T
Nem

1

-1

agradece a jacuba

Que nao comeria em Culm
'

'

Nor

likes

Which he

woiild not eat in

Cuba

"
I

by nude drivers, and
by the boatmen on the Rio de
Sao Francisco.
The simple "mets"' is
maize flour mixed with rapadura sugar and
e^^pecially

(HI.

i,

270,) omits the

sugar.
-t-

"Coat

peoi)le," opposed to those

wear jackets or

shirt sleeves.

who

The garment

generally understood to be of broadcloth,
invariably black.
J In Tupy, the word jirimarily signifies
a "beating."
It is explained in the Diet.
bv " volante " or "supapo," made of maize
« ^.^^^^.
^^^^ ^^^ ^j.
j^^^^^^^
^^^^ ^^.^^^
is

„

he the Jacuba

It is also affected

cold water. St. Hil.

^^^^^
^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^. ^^ ^ cat's-paw.
Botocudos had the football made of a
^^°*'^ ^^i"''^1'^'"^
^^"'^'^^ ^^''^''"•
274.)
§ Casal (vol. ii. ) and Pizarro (vol. viii.)
especially.
Of course the dead were buried
around and within it. The custom was not
abolished in Rome and Naples till 1800.

—

—
iH.vr.

TO AND AT SAU JOSE DEL-REI.

xiTi.J

There are six side chapels,

and paintings not badly executed.

Two

the thii'd left containing a large cross.

pulpits attached

and naked, with highly ornamental
those "African gentlemen" whose sole

are poor

to the side walls

canopies,

141

suggesting

costume to speak of is a tall blue chimnej^'-pot hat. On the left
is a cmiously-shaped choii" or organ loft, supported by queer
car3'atides and cornucopia?, and copiously- festooned and painted.

The organ
jMinas

;

is

tolerable,

and indeed

it

said to be the best in

is

the organist kindly gave us a specimen of his

art.

Under

the choii' are two fanc}' figures weeping bitterly without a cause.
Above it is a projecting branch for lights, a heraldic full-sized
wooden eagle somewhat like those which support om- lecterns
whose beak supports a lamp chain of these Jovian bii'ds there is

—

;

one before each

altar.

The sanctuary

is

a mass of gilding and carving, and the ribbed

On

roof shows a quadripartite vaulting.

the right-hand wall is

the Marriage of Cana, to the left the Last Supper, large pamtings, but not equal to the popular treatment

The

retablo under its canopy of gilt

wood

is

of the

subjects.

Saint Anthony, per-

He holds up the monforming the miracle of the animals.
" and " shallow infi"
sceptics
doubtless
The people,
strance.
dels," refuse to adore, but the once T^-phonian donkey,

of the zeal without knowledge, falls on
to

mind the

old

its

new type

humble knees.

It calls

hymn
Cognovit bos et asinus

Quod puer

erat Dominiis.

Three steps lead up to the throne of the Santissima, a fine piece
wood and gilding, always, however, excex^ting the fat boys
dressed in gold-wash, who put out the eye of taste. Above it is
a figiu'e of our Lord ascending to Heaven.
The Miracle room showed a votive offering, dated 17-17, the
men in periwigs and full skirted red coats, were "s^ild brethren
of

to
Sir

Plume, of amber snuff-box justly vain.

The sacristy contained the usual old fountain, decorated with
an impossible head, a few insignificant pictures, and old prieDieu chairs of fine black-wood, with seats and tall backs of
hishlv embossed leather.

These

articles are

common

in

the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

142

cliurclies of

Minas, some of the country clergy

have fomicl them at tunes in laical houses.
but who, in the

name

[chap. xiii.

affect

They

them, and I

are picturesque,

of comfort, sits off the dorsal angle ? a

nursery stool would he preferable

This property room is rich
and other items of the ecclesiastical plate
said to contain 1280 lbs. of silver and silver gilt.
!

in thmifers, chalices,
service

;

it

is

The most grotesque

part

Capella de Sete Passos, the

the

is

seven j)rincipal stations of

oiu*

Lord's passion, beginnmg with

the garden and ending at the crucifixion.
size, of

temple

We

The

figures were life-

painted wood, and nothing can be more like a Buddliist

m

those lands where Buddhist art does not excel.
then strolled about the place, and inspected the minor

lions.

The Casa da

Caniara, opposite the Matriz,

is

certainly

300 houses. We counted, besides the parish
church, 1, Sao Joao Evangelista, 2, Eosario, 3, Santo Antonio
dos Pobres, 4, the chapel of Sao Francisco da Paula, and 5,
the Merces, still under repaii' a total of seven, and a tolerable
allowance for a population of 2500 souls.*
Descending the
the best of the

;

calcada,

we crossed over the neat

little

stone bridge, and worked

round to the principal Chafariz.

The entrance

platform certamly dates before

days of crinoline

tlie

to its flagged
;

the front

shows three masks and two spouts, still surmomited by the arms
of Portugal.
All is lilce the garden of black Hassan, but the
place would make an admirable bath.
Beyond this the red land is cut and hacked by the gold-washer.
" St. Joseph of the King" (D. Joao V.) was the wildest sohtude
during the seventeenth century, when the Paulistas and Taubateenses began to push theii' bandeii'as or commandos into the
vast mysterious interior.
Guided by the brave and energetic
adventurer, Joao de Serqueu'a Affonso, a part)' of explorers
seeking red-skins and "yellow clay," reached the margins of the
Rio das Mortes, and founded the usual "Arraial." Its golden
treasures attracted emigrants, and on January 19, 1718, about
two years before Minas Geraes was raised to an independent
captaincy, it became a villa and a municipality under the Governor D. Pedro de Almeida, Count of Assumar. In June 1842,
it acknowledged the insurgents, and in 1848 it was degraded to
a mere "povoagao," a "one-horse" affaii-.
But Eesurgam was
* lBlS28it contaiued, wcaretold, 2000
In 1864, tlie population of tlie

sonls.

Municipality numbered 24,508 souls with

1209 voters and 35

electors.

ciiAr.

its

TO AKD AT SAO JOSE D'EL-REL

XIII.]

motto, and on October

7,

18G0,

143

took upon

it

itself tlie

noLle

obligations of cityliood.

In April 1828 S. Jose became the head-quarters of the General
Mining Association, that had secured three leagues of auriferous
soil, and whose interests were looked after by Mr. Charles
Duval.* In 1830 a tract of ground was also secured by the
*'
St. John Del Rey."
But water was found to be very
abundant in the mine and very scanty on the surface conseTwo years
quently, stamping and washing went on slowly.
afterwards the directors gave up the diggings in disgust, the
'*
plant " was bought by Mr. Milward, and grass now grows abun;

dantly in the streets.

The

trade of Sao Jose, except in Jacuba and Petecas, is at a

Once it had five fabrics of native flax, seventy looms,
where 30,000 metres of country-grown cotton were
woven, five potteries of good clay, and eight Idlns, which produced per annum 3000 bushels of lime. In 1855 the municipal
judge calculated the exports at 450 000 $ 000, and the imports
at 250 000 $ 000.
Nature, in one of her usual freaky moods, produced at '' Sao
Jose of the Jacubeii'os," no less a personage than Jose Basilio da
Gama, ex-Jesuit noviciate, favourite of Pombal, member of the
stand-stiU.
(theares,)

:

:

Arcadia

author

Mineira,
''

metrical romance,

O

of

the

celebrated

Uraguay," and

epic,

or rather

glory of his native land.

As might- be expected, however, under

the circumstances, the

is supposed
1740 the names of his parents have only just been
discovered, and where there are seven churches, there is not a
slab to honour the greatest of the Brazilian poets.
His ** Exegi Monumentum " shall conclude this chapter.

X3lace of his birth

never recorded his natal date, which

to be about

;

Ura^iay
Brood

!

men

sliall

read thee

:

tliougli

some day

o'er this vision dark, eternal night.

Live thoii and 'joy the light serene and clear
G-o to Arcadia's groves, nor fear to be
A stranger stepping on an unknown shore.
There 'mid the sombre myrtles freshly reared,

I

* Mr.

still

system of treating the quartz and pyrites
having failed to see Mr. Milward who, in

—

those days liad charge of tlie operations,
I can neither add to nor correct his information.

who was married
remembered in the
countiy, afterwards became Chief Commissionerof Gongo Soco, and died about 1857.
Mr. Walsh (ii. 117 8) fully describes his
Charles Duval,

to a Polisli lady,

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

144

um

shall hold.
all Mir6u * the sad
Raise from the foreign sky and o'er it strew
With peregrine hand the wreath of barbarous flow'rs
And seek thy follower to guide thy steps

Not

Unto that

[cuvp. xiii.

jDlace

*

which long thy coming

His poetical, or pastoral name.

'waits.

;

CHAPTER

XIV.

TO THE ALAGOA DOURADA OR GOLDEN LAKE.
" Aeris tauta est clemeutia ut nee nebula iuficiens, nee spiritns hie pestilens,

aura corrumperes

The

;

medicomm

opera parum indiget."

— Gerald.

We

beds of Sao Jose were not downy.

Camhr., Chap.

nee

9.

agreed to rise at

and most of us spent the night talking over okl times.
INIules, however, will stray, and with the thermometer showing
36° F. negroes will feel torpid.
Yet Ave effected a start at
1 A.M.,

The road at first traversed wooded lands at least, so
we thought in the darkness of mid-winter. It was almost like
riding up an endless wall of stone, slightly slanting, and sliding
down on the other side. Presently it began winding through a

4*50 A.M.

;

was to ascend, worse
descend, and the raw damp of early dawn was not favourable

gap in the grim Serra de Sao Jose
to

;

bad

it

for the exercise of an}' faculties, perceptive or reflective.

At 8 A.M., desperatel}' sleepy, chilly and comfortless, we
reached the Rio Carandahy, which, draining the westward face
of the meridional range north of Barbacena, falls into the Rio das
Mortes Grande, and thus into the liio Grande and the Parana.
The name is trivially explained by the cry on sighting a drowned
The term is
man, "A cara anda ahi " here goes the face!
l)robably Tupy, and Cara-andahy would mean the ''hawk's
hook," or curve.
In the Brazil, as in "the East," there is
abundance
of
folk-lore
an
philosophy, superstitious, fanciful,
descriptive, and facetious.
Thus, " araxa," toTvni, so called be"
"
sun facer," ara" being day, and " echa" that looks
cause it is a
at, is popularly derived from " ha de se acliar," he (or it) must
be foimd, alluding either to a Quilombeiro* (maroon negro), or to
!

—

the gold reported to be abundant.
* Tlic Quiloinl'O mny l>c a roiTn]ition nf
Bimda word whicli Fr. Bernardo ^laria
de Cannecatim (Lisbon, 1804) writes in

P.ia/il

it

is n]ip1if>l

fugitive slaves

tn

ihc

Inisli

of

well-known dictionary, Curiembu (Ku
Riemlni ),/.<•., povoar, to populate. In tlie

some of these IMaroon villages,
lombo dos Palmares, will live
" Calhambola," "Carambola,"

his

sottlementsi

and other malefactors

the

:

as the Quiin history.
or

" Qtu-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

146

[cHAr. xiv.

we ascended to
This taboleiro was grassy, and
thinlj' wooded above Avith stunted trees like the ilex and arbutus
whilst the slopes and hollows shoAved the
of the Tjrolese glade
huge red water-breaches and the bouquets de bois of the Minas
Campo. There were only two fazendas upon the thousands of
at the Carandaliy Bridge,

Having breakfasted

a kind of plateau, or table-land.

;

square acres, well supplied with small streams in

The path was

all

up and down, nor did

it

little

want the usual

glens.
<iuag-

mires.

Three mortal long leagues delayed us till nearly sunset. After
many an " anathema esto," we reached an outlying settlement on
a hill-top, primitive as a Tup}^ taba.*
Thence descending a
steep winding path, we found ourselves in something more
civilised, the Freguezia de Santo Antonio de Alagoa (vulgarly
Lagoa) Dourada.t It appears in the shape of a single street, a
favourite form in old-fashioned parts of the Brazil, this long town
reminding one of a settlement on the Gaboon or the Congo Biver,
and survives in the suburbs of such civilized places as (Sao Salva-.
dor da) Bahia.

Some

fifty

one-storeyed houses, with far-projecting

which suggest, when viewed from below, a colossal flight of
steps, stretcli straggling from north to south, and spread along
the meridional bank of a brook traversing a dwarf bottom. This is
one of the head Avaters of the Brumado, the brumous, or foggy,
called by the elders Corrego, or Eibeirao de Inferno, or " Hell

eaves,

Creek."

.

After six or seven lengues

it falls

into the Paraoi)eba.

According to some, it is the main stream, and we are noAv in the
basin of the Eio de Sao Francisco.
Crowning the square-like
street ai-e the remains of a neAv church, intended for St. John
it
;

highly effective as

now

—a

became an
edifice.
Further down is the Matriz de Santo Antonio, old and
with the antiquated belfry, a detached wooden framework. Also,
is

it

stands

and in Prince U-ak. (i. 281),
" Gayainbolos, " which I can only consider

*

lomliola,"

to be further debasements
one of them,
however, occiirs in the Cartas Chilenas, a
;

celebrated Brazilian satire, the
Letters " done in verse,—

" Draper's

o u„w,
„ cabo, que Hi
E«,^»>rio
mancla a
hum Vbom
Ihe traga
^,.;i
h
AA\v„.>^+«c.
quantos quilohibolas
se apanharcm
Em duras gargalheira«.
A sturdy corjioral he sends to bring
1

.

1

1

All the I\Iaroons on whom he can lay hand.^
In hard neck-irous.

ruin before

The

village,

it

Taba in the Kraal or Indian
a collection of "Ocas," in Portu*

—

gnese Cabanas wigwams.
The Ocara is
the open space, generally circular, snrrounded by the lodge.s.
f According to' the Diccionario GeO'
grapliico, sub voce, it Avas originally the
j
Alagoa Escura the Dark Lake.
Dourada
°
+•
-x.
j
n
sometimes erroneously A.-ritten Doirada
^
the Portuguese diidithong
ou js mostly
sounded "oi," to the great confusion of

ai«J^

•

—il,T^lTl•n

•

,

.
:

'

foreigners,

—
CHAP. XIV.]

TO THE ALAGOA DOURADA OR GOLDEN LAKE.

for the poi^ulatioii of

GOO souls and Sunda}"

147

visitors, there are

two

chapels of ease, the Merces and the towerless Rosario.

We passed on to the further end of the straggling village, and
" ranched" at a kind of cottage that hore the " strange device"
CA3A HOSPERIA ASAO,
Dom

Miguel da Assumpcao

the

(sic,

(sic, ciio

word

reversed.)

a Dog) Chaves.

Tlie kennels serving for hed-rooms were foully

dirt}',

the floor

and the ceilings were in Mineiro style,
strips of hamhoo bark about an inch in diameter crossing at right
it is cheap,
angles.
This rough matting has its advantages
in the better
clean, and not close enough to prevent ventilation
establishments it is fancifully patterned, stained, and chequered.
was foot-tamped

earth,

;

;

The beds

had, for

pleasant with the

all

coverture, bits of thin, coloured chmtz, not

mercmy at

35° F.

;

the occupants usually shiver

in thin " pouches,"* or cloaks; of course

we had not forgotten

to bring railway rugs.
It

was Sundaj', June 23, the *'vespera"

(eve or vigil) of St.

John, perhaps the oldest "holy day" in the civilised world. It
is, I need hardly say, the commemoration of the Northern Solstice
of the

Mundi

Oculus,

when

his "

Dakhshanayan"

begins.

It is

22—24),
the great "master," the "husband" of the moon, the mighty
" Lord " of light and heat, the sun of this great world, both eye
and soul. We find him called Bel and Belus in AssjTia and
Chaldea, Beel in Phoenicia, Bal amongst the Carthaginians,
Moloch {i.e., Malik, or king) amongst the Ammonites, Hobal in
Arabia (Drs. Dozy and Colenso), Balder (Apollo) in Scandinavia,
Belenus in Avebury, and Beal in Ireland.! The flaming pjTe is
in honour of the Mundi Animus, the solar light. Thus we read m
the feast of the mighty Baal (or Bool b5?n

*

The

Poncho of Spanish America.
a hea\'y sleeveless cloak of blue
broadcloth lined with red baize: when
the stnif is fine, the garment of many uses
is preferable to any macintosh or waterproof, and it protects from the sun as
A " ponche " of white
v.ell as from rain.
linen is used by tlie wealthier cla.sses when
riding during the heat of the day.
t I know it has been stated that nearly
all the Bels, Bals, and Bils, which come so
luindy to the sujiport of the Baal theory,
are forms of Bil, good, Bally, a to^^^)ship,
Bile, a tree, Bealach, a road, ami Bil or
But the
Boul, the mouth of a river.

Here

it is

pagan

:

1 Ivings xviii.

Irish

bodies.

The

worshij^ped

certainly

hills, trees, wells,

and

with

stones, the heavenly

Bel-aine,

"little

circle

of

How tlieu could
Belus," was their year.
they have omitted the sun, that object of
The Baldersbad of
universal adoration ?
Scandinavia are described by many a traveller, and Leopold von Buch found them
in northern Norway, they are seen on both
coasts of the Baltic, and they extend into
Prussia and Lithuania. I cannot understand
how a festival which is universal should
be termed characteristic of the insular
(Athenaeum, No. 2073, July 20,
Celts.
18G7). The furthest point soiith at which I
L 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

148

[chap. xiv.

the " Quatuor Sermones," " In worship of St. John, the people

home, and made three manners of fii-es one was of
another
clean bones, and no wood, and that is called a bonfire
is clean wood, and no bones, and that is called a wood-fire, for
people to sit and Avake thereby the third is made of wood and
bones, and that is called St. John's fire." So the sun-worshippers
of northern England, the central counties, and of Cornwall,
kindled on their highest Lowes and Torrs, at the moment of the
solstice, huge fctix de joic, and called them " Bar-tine."
And
at this moment, whilst we in the heart of the Highlands of Brazil,
are watchmg the piling up and the kindling of the pyre, semil^agan Irishmen in Leinster and Connaught, even in Queen's
County they are dancing round, and their children are jiimping
through their memorious Beal-tienne* (Baal-fire). And still the
Bound Towers in which the signal fires were lit, are looking on.
Here also we see illustrated the efi'ect of climate upon great
national festivals. The northern yeule, or yule
merry Christmas
the Feast of the Southern Solstice, has scant importance in
these latitudes, Avhere the weather is hot and rainy, and the roads
Avakecl at

:

;

;

:

—

—

•

are bad.
Midsummer is the cool of the year the temperature is
then delightful, and the Avays are clean. People meet at the
church toAvns from everj-- direction
each i^lace has its bonfire,
bands promenade, and people sit up all night, and gleefully
;

;

renew the " Tree of
ignorance of

utter

of

St.

its

They keep the feast in
t
and indeed I have often asked
the meaning of the bonfire, but in
John."

origin,

European ecclesiastics
Educated Brazilians

vain.t
found

tlie

Tenerife

:

liave inquired

fires

was at Guimar

in lieautifnl

tliere

every person

named John
"

must on Midsummer Day "stand liqiior
his friends.
The Solstice day has

to all

probably made St. John's name so popular
at the baptismal font throughout Christianity
hence too our Jones (i.e., John's,
the same form as Johnson) and Evans, the
genitive of an old Welsh name equivalent
to John.
St. John seems especially to
have favoui-ed the Basque country.
In his
jiyre is placed a stone which serves him as
a " prie-Dieu " on the next morning it
is found to preserve
some of his hairs,
;

;

which naturally become relics. The fire is
of herbs, and those who jump through it
do not suffer from "itch."
Till lately live coals from the fire were
strewed over the
crop,

fields to

produce a good

how

is

it

that

men

" mastro dc S. Joao " is a tall,
f The
thin tree-trunk, sometimes left gi-owing
and merely trimmed; more often it is
This is
felled, stripped, and replanted.
generally done a week or so before the festival.
Attached to the top is a vane aljout
two feet square, of light frame-work fillccl
with calico, upon which is painted a figure
of the Saint, and amongst negi'oes he is
This "mast" reminds the
often black.
English traveller of our "shaft," or Maypole.

The

bonfire (fire of joy)

to the indigenes of the Brazil,

was known

who

called it

" Toiyba, " from Tory, a faggot,
t The Equinoxes, as well as the Solstices,
were honoured with inemorial fire-festivals,
c.f/., Ea.stcr-day or May-day, the Holi of
India, and the Irish La Beal teinne
also
;

All-hallow-een (Oct. 31).
And if Christianitv had an astronomical origin, so have

—

CHAP. XIV,]

TO THE ALAGOA DOURADA OR GOLDEN LAKE.

Avalk over the St. John's fire

course, the answer

without burning the feet ?*

that those

is

always pass quickly, and

140

t)ften

who pass through

with wet soles.

Of

the flames

Girls throw the

of eggs into water, and see in the forms which they

contents

assume the faces of

theii-

They

"futtirs,'' f

all

judge of their

luck, of course matrimonial,

by twisting paper-slips, v.diich are
opened or not by the cold. Uneducated men believe that St.
John sleeps through his festival, and happily so, for were he to
wake he would destroy the world. Pooi' saint
They sing
!

lejigthy songs beginning with
Sao Joao se sonbera que

Do Ceo

And

the fiery fete

is

clesceria

cam

lioje e

sen dia,

alegria e prazer. t

more pleasant

in the country than in the

towns, where bell-ringing, discharges of fireworks, begin before

You

dawn.

are deafened with the ridiculous rockets,

and the

moliques or niggerlings make the streets unpleasant by throwing
"feet seekers" (buscapes) or squibs, wdiicli do their best to injure

your

legs.

The

village is a

mean

place, but its situation is remarkable,

and the inhabitants say that it is the highest " arraial " in
Minas whilst the Serra das Taipas§ is the loftiest range, and
It occupies one of
Itacolumi is the monarch of mountains.
;

the highest plateaus

all

other advanced faiths.

—perhaps
For

religion,

or the belief of things unseen, began on the
earth with earthly matters and ended in

the heavens with the Grreat Unknown.
* Thi.s is the legitimate Irish Bil-teinne,
good or lucky fire through which cattle
are driven and children are passed to
guard them against the maladies of the
year.

f In Ireland "Brideogh," a picture of
Bridget, properly Brighid, a Vestal
It was made upon the eve of that
Virgin.
apocryphal saint "by unmarried wenches
with a view to discover their futui-e hnsbands." So in Germany the maiden invites
and sees her destiny on St. Andrew's Eve,
St. Thomas' Eve, Christnuus Eve, and New
Before midnight on St. AnYear's Eve.
drew's Eve, melted lead is poured through
the open parts of a key whose wards form
a cross into water cb-awn from the well
during the same night, and the metal
takes the form of the tools denoting the
St.

craft of the spouse to be.

tlie

highest

—not

only in Minas,

coidd he but know that we
honour him this day,
Down from heaven he would stray in
his gladness and his joy.
The metre is a favourite with the country

t

St. .John

the consonance is
is the rhyme
the first line end and of the syllable
that ends the third hemistich, whilst the
In this
couplet terminates unrhymed.
"
way are mostly composed the " Modinhas

people, so

;

of

which

when

we may

tran.slate

"ballads," and
is, not sung,

recited, as the fashion

the peculiarity favours a pathetic or sentimental dropping of the voice suitable to
Curious to say, the same kind
the theme.
of couplet and triplet also may be found
I have given
amongst the wild Sindhis.
instances in " Sindh and the Races that
inhabit the Valley of the Indus," pp. 88
and 116.
It is the
§ Some call it Alto das Taipas.
north to south ridge connecting the heights
of Ouro Preto with those of Barbacena, and
Burmeistcr calls it Serra de Barbacena.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

150

[chap. xiv.

but in the Brazil, as is proved b}' the waters flowing from it to the
northern and southern extremities of the Empire. And yet this

which separates two of the mightiest river
is of moderate altitude, not exceeding
4000 feet. A similar anomaly of Natiu'e is often to be seen in
the divisions between highh^ important basins, witness the Eio
*'

Avasser-schied,"

systems known to the world,

Grande-Tocantins, the Madeira-Paraguay, the Nile-Zambezi, the
Missouri-Colorado, and the Indus-Bramliaputra.

The name,

the

and the trend of

lay,

great

this

" Linha

The people, who are poor in
" Espigao Geral," the General Ridge.*
Thus they distinguish it from the " Espigiio Mestre," or Master

Divisoria" are

in confusion.

still

general names, call

it

Ridge, to the north-west, the divide of the Tocantins and the

Baron von Eschwege has connected the
two by a vast curve, which heads the Valleys of the Amazon, the
Parana, and the Sao Francisco, and he has named the Espigao
Mestre " Serra das Vertentes," or Range of Yersants. In this
he is followed by Burmeister, whilst St. Hilaire, after the fasliion
of French departments, preferred calling it " Serra do Sao
Francisco e do Rio Grande, t
This mountain plateau forms in Eastern and Equinoctial South
America the tliii'd and innermost transverse range, the others
being the Serra do Mar and the INIantiqueira.
Running in a
southern Paranahyba.

dii'ection

roughly to be described as east to west,

great north to south ridges.

do Espmhaco, about

W.

it

It begins at the Serra

connects the

Grande,

long. 0° 30' (Rio de Janeii'o).

runs on a parallel between S.

lat.

alias

then
20° and 21°, throwing off large
It

streams to the north and south, and presently becoming the
Serra do l*iumhy.t
It continues to trend west for a total of
180 miles, till it reaches the box-shaj^ed mass called the Serra
da Canastra, lying about W.long. 3°— 3° 30' (Rio) and 47° (Green.).
Some maps, following Spix and Martins, extend the Serra da
* It is jjerliaps more generally
the Serra da Alagoa Dourada.

t

A name

Brazil.

known

common

atHietingly

This " Lig river "

is

in

as

tlie

the eastern

head water of the Parana-Paraguay-Plata.
The Pai-an^ is formed by the junction of
this stream "wdth the Paranahyba, which I
call the Southern to distinguish it from the
Great Northern Paranahyba of Mai-anhao
and Piauhy.
t The word means Water of the Pium or
"

Sandfly.

Hil.

St.

(III.

i.

169) venders

it

" Water of the Swallow " (Mlji>-ui). Many
however of his derivations are farfetched,
Thus he
and taken from vocabularies.
derives (III. i. 166) Capitinga from the
Guarany Capyi, gi-ass, and pitiunga rank
smelling

(T.

D. Piteii, bafio, fortum, rank-

So
simply white gi-ass.
238) he makes Peripitinga to be
"
"fetid n;sh
it is "flat rush," pitinga,
flat, not pitiunga.
ness)

:

(III.

i.

it signifies

:

CHAP. XIV.]

TO THE ALAGOA DOUIIADA OR GOLDEN LAKE.

151

Negra of Sabara, and thence north to the
de Sao Francisco and the
Southern Paranahyba. INI. Gerber and the majority prolong the
Serra da Canastra to the " Mata da Corda," which extends to
S. lat. 17°, and whose hist buttress we shall see on the Rio de
Sao Francisco.
C'auastra to the Serra

division of waters between the Rio

CHAPTER

XV.

AT THE ALAG6a DOUKADA.
" Cr;tm'ln'ba-T)ilmbali-i-i."
]irii:iliaii

When

Lrlnlilng Sontj,

our traps Nvere settled in the dog-holes, I walked

to the Palacete

the great futiu'e

off

da Commissao, which housed the survej'ors of
line of rail, which will soon end the present

"hideous waste of power" hetween the Valleys of the Parahyba
and the Sao Francisco. Mr. John Whittaker, C.E., was then in
charge, with two first assistants, Messrs. Thos. Hayden and
Chas. A. Morsing, besides a number of underlings. Everything
mules tramj^ed
was in admii'able and business-like confusion
walls,
from
the
hung
boxes
strewed the
about the court, saddles
in
away
the
corners.
It was
floors, and instruments Avere stowed
the signal of separation, half the party going north and the
;

other south.

On

John we made a halt, and were invited to
At noon we proceeded to the brook, heading
spectators, whose Avives and children eyed the

the Fete of St.

lay the first chain.

a

little

crowd of

The peg
and breaking the
A chain was laid down, and sights were taken to " N.
bottle.
74° W.," and " S. 73° E."
The inauguration passed off well
flags flew, the band played its loudest, Ave di-ank Avith many
and hip hip hip huiTahs
vivas
pam pam pam pams
to the healths of the Brazil, of England, and especially to the
prolongation of the Dom Pedro Segundo RailAvay many complimentary speeches Avere exchanged, and the music escorted us
back to our *' ranch."
outlandish proceedmg, as usual, from their windows.

was duly planted,

my

wife giving the first blow,

;

—

!

!

!

!

—

!

!

!

!

;

The scene of the ceremony Avas the site Avhere the Dark
became the Golden Lake.
When first discovered it covered
the loAvlands upon Avhich the houses noAv stand, and in order to

CHAP. XV.]

AT THE ALAGOA DOUPvADA.

153

drain it, the old miners practically solved the geographical
problem of connecting two versants.
By means of deep gaplike cuttings, which still remain in the lowest levels, they tm^ned
the feeders of the Carandahy, which flows south, into the Brumado, which runs north. Here the greater part of the precious
metal was discovered, and there are many traditions of its
former wealth. Mr. Walsh* gives an account of the old diggings
now in abeyance he mentions a forty-pound nugget, which
;

proved to he the connnon nucleus of fibres ramifying in

all

du'ections.

As
'•'

regards the line to be taken by the railway through the

Paiz Camponez," three termini have been warmly advocated

by their several partisans, and the Commission was sent to see
and survey for itself. The three valleys which claim the honour
are those of the Para, the Paraopeba,

and the Rio das Yelhas.

The Para

passes to the west of Pitanguy, and falls into the
Sao Francisco about S. lat. 19° 30.' Unfortunately, the Great

Dividing Ridge, which must be crossed rid Santa Rita, Lage,
and Desterro, puts forth a succession of lateral buttresses, with

numerous and important smiace-drams, requiring long turns,
Moreover, when
tunnels, bridges, and similar expensive works.
reaches the

it

Siio

Francisco the

The Paraopeba,! which runs
with, the Para, has

made

From

Carandahy, the distance is only
Alagoa Dourada the ground is favoui'able

is

completely

navigable.

and almost

to the east of,

some advantages.

to the

river

latter

unnavigable, and cannot in these days be

parallel

the Rio das Mortes

five

leagues.

At the

would run
down the Brumado valley, and enter that of the Paraopeba after
eight leagues.
This line would pass fourteen leagues west of
the present capital of Minas, through campos where agriculture
flomishes, and Avhere there are backgrounds of unoccupied
On the other hand, M. Liais has proved that the
forests. I
Paraopeba does not, like Sahara, He nearly on the meridian
of Rio de Janeiro, and that being far to the west it necessitates
Moreover, the Paraopeba River is practicable
a useless detour.
only for thirty, some say twenty, leagues § between the mouth
*

(ii.

162).

f "Paraopeba," which Dr. Coutu writes
"Paropeba," and others " Paroupeba, " is
said, I do not know with wliat autliority,
to mean the "river of the leaf."
J llato Geral, of which more presently.

;

thence

it

§ The Riverines of the Paraopeba declare
that it is navigable for canoes below the
Salto (cataract) of S'* Cruz near Congonha.s do Campo for almost double the
distance mentioned in the text.

— ——

—

—

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

154

[chap. xv.

—

of the Betim (S. lat. 20° 10') and the. Cachoeira do Chero
the
Rapids of Lamentation* in S. lat. 19° 30'. Finally, here again,
as Liais has shown, the Rio de Sao Francisco cannot he made
safe, even for tugs, from the dehouchure of the Paraopeha to the

—

terrihle Rajjids of Pii-apora.f

During the afternoon we walked up and down the hanks of
Here the hatea produced a few spangles
of gold
the owner of the land is said to take at times three
to four florins' Avorth per diem, which barely pays.
The da}'
ended as great days always do amongst true Britons with a
grand dinner given b}' ]Mr. AVliittaker, and he managed it wonderfully well. The good vicar, Rev. Francisco Jose Ferreu-a, who had
duly said mass at 11 A.ii., took the head of the table my wife
was at the foot, and the sides showed seventeen Brazilians and
the haby Brumado.
;

—

;

eight strangers.

The

food was, as usual, represented by messes

and meat,

and pepper sauce,
and port from the
engineers' stores.
The only peculiarity Avas the system of
toasts, after the fashion of old INIinas.
Immediately after the
soup, each one made a little speech, and sang in the most nasal
of chickens

in fact, " Mexii-iboca,"

of tones a
train

and a

little

feijao, rice, farinha,

I

—

Avith cheese, beer,

scrap of a sentimental song, generally a qua-

l)ittock.

The

folloAving are

specimens

:

Aos amigos um brindo feito
Reina a aUegria em nosso peito
Grato licor, allegre, jvicundo,

Que a

tiido este

mundo,
desaf ria o

Amor

!

§

All the audience takes up the last Avord, and joyously prolongs
Avith a

melancholy murmm-

— " Amo-o-o-r."

Como he

Follows, perhaps

:

grata a compauliia,

Lisonjeira a sociedade,

Entre amigos verdadeiros,''
Viva a coustante amizade

Amizade!
* Reminding lis etymologically
" Bab-El-Maiulab " Gate or Gut

—

of

tlie

of

the

Weeping-place.
Tliis is not the place to treat of the
Rio das Velhas, which will ))e descriljed in
the first chapters of the second volume.
J Mexiriboca is a ludicrous term like
our "hodge-podge," meat, rice, beans,
farinha, and other matters mixed and
eaten with a spoon.

§

•f-

||

(chorus.)

|(

A toast to tliis good company,
AVhere every heart beats high with gles
Tlie generous wine flow.s fa^t and free,
For nought in all the world we see
That is not \\ on by love,
How happily we here are met,
How pleasantly the time hath passed
Amid the friends we ne'er forget
Ever

may

constant friendship last,
And amity.

—

"

Sr. C'ypiianno liodriguez

;

the

155

Chaves greatly distinguished himself

both in the singing* and the speecliifymg.
At last the
were drunk and redrunk.
fight,

'

AT THE ALAC46A DOURADA.

CHAP. XV.]

proposed

"

All kinds of healths

married men were
and then began a general
the Centaurs and Lapithse bound

bachelors objected,

friendly and furious

over to keep the peace.
*

;

At such
"

With cheers aud

'

tigers,

time,

The whole table,
was a perfect Babel.

Ave removed our chaii's, and took coffee in the
Soon the temperature became nipping in these hollows
thin ice forms over shallows, and
of the Brazilian Highlands

After dinner

street.

;

in places a soup-plate full of water will be frozen in the night.

We

removed to the ranch, where Mr. Copsy made for us a
" Crambambali," f a native brule, highly advisable in these frozen
The "vigil"
altitudes, and we " sampled " sundry glasses of it.
fires were not lit again, but the band of ten men promenaded
We did not
the streets, and ended with giving us a serenade.
separate till late, and we sat till " Sat pratci hihenint.''
I have spent many a less merry Christmas in Merry England,
and we shall not readily forget ]Midsummer Day at Alagoa
Doui'ada, in the year of grace 1867.
* This singing at

meat has been univerEurope.
In old Germany, when sitguests were obliged
dinner
all
the
ting after
to recite some rhymes ixnder pain of being
I believe
obliged to drink off a bumper.
that the practice was introduced into tlie
Bi-azil by the Hollander invaders during
It is not known on the
the 17th Century.
seaboard, where Portuguese " speechifying
is the rule, but pai-ts of the interior still
preserve it.
What would say to it the

sal in

accomplished author of the
ing

'
'

Art of Din-

"
?

f I will give the receipt in the words of
-" Pour into a large deep
the compounder
dish a bottle of the best white rum, add a
quant. sufF. of sugar, fire it and keep stirring.
Gradually add a bottle of port, and
when the flame weakens, put in a little
cinnamon and a few slices of lime. Blow
out and you will have the very perfection
:

of

Crambambali.

—

a

CHAPTER

XVI.

TO CONGONHAS DO
A^em se deutro campinas

CA]\rPO.

dileitosas,

Gelidas fontes, arvores copadas,
Outeiros de crystal, campos de rosas,

Mil fructiferas plantas delicadas.
Caramiin'i.

Though

joy lasted to the small hours, sorrow came in the

morning.

Mr. Copsy was compelled by professional engageback npon iis. " Prodigio," the old white
"madi'inha," leaped a ditch dming the night, and was not followed by the rest, a rare circmnstance. The intelligent animal
ments to

tiTrn his

doubtless cherished tender memories

of good feeding at late
and feebly determined to renew the pleasure.
We rose at 4 a.m., and we could not mount till hot 9 a.m. We
were accompanied by the engmeers, nor could, indeed, we have
gone far alone. Notlimg is easier in the Campos generally than
the " errada "
for Avhich the popular i:)hrase is " comprar
porcos " to buy pigs.
The land is often a net of paths
kind of highway from nothing to nowhere.
Wlien you ask
about the wa}-, the inevitable answer is, " Niio tem " (pronounce "teng") "errada" you can't go wrong, and behold!
}-ou at once come to a point where four or more roads cross
or meet.
The people know every inch of ground they cannot
" stravague," and they cannot conceive that you can.
Moreover, we are now on a mere bridle path, without commerce,
baiting-places,

—

—

—

—

;

commimications, or comforts
intelligent,

the few inhabitants are naturally
but they never rise above semi-barbarism. If you
;

inquire the hour, the replier will look at the sun and say 9 a.m.

when
will

one

it is noon.
If you desu-e to know the distance, the answer
probably be, " One league, if the gentleman's beast is a good

;

if

not,

one and a half."

Koster sensibly divides his

"

TO CONGONHAS DO CAMPO.

CHAP. XVI.]

leagues into

nada

legoas

157

and legoas de

legoas pequenas,

gTandes,

— of nothing, which may mean four miles.

Crossing the old Lake-site, we ascended the northern

hill by
and soon debouched upon the Campo.

a hollow lane of red clay,

From
the

the higher ground appeared, far in the blue north-east,

loft}'

The

wall of Itacolumi.

suri'ace

is

much broken

with

"cluses," wooded and boggy ravines, generally struck by the

Railroads here must find, perforce, and
otherwise it is a " bad look-out."
follow the bed of some stream
patli at a right angle.

;

After marching

five miles,

we forded

a small water,

and

ate

The

occasion was not solemn.
In
these lands, where all wander, men do not say, " adeus " (farewell), but " ate a primeu-a," " a tantot," or " ate a volta
(pronounced " vorta "), till the return ; and I have long learned
together om* last breakfast.

In fact, we all expected to
meet again, and some of us met before we expected to meet.
Mr. "Whittaker then mounted his mule, and, followed by the
minor lights, went his Avay, whilst we went ours.*

to substitute for adieu, an rcro'ir.

Two
lakelet

hours took

on the

us

to

We

left.

Ollios

rested at

d'Agua,t
a

so

cottage,

called from a
and found the

women busy

at the old spinning-wheel, working the cotton that
grew before their doors
this is a passe-temps as general
throughout Minas as in ancient France.
AVlien cooled with
oranges and plantains, we resumed, and sighted, deep down in
a romantic hollow, a Fazenda belonging to the Padre Francisco
Ferreira da Fonseca.
It was a charming hermitage, embosomed
in its hills, and beautified by its luxuriant weeping willows, its
feathery palms, and its stiff Araucaria pines.
The Bombax
;

(Pameira) rose sturdy with

its slightl}-

bulging stem,

+

tapering at

the top, and armed with short and stout, sharp and curved cock* I leave these words as they were
wTitten.
We did meet again, more than
once, and with pleasure, and little expecting what was aliout to happen.
On June
21, 1868, Mr. .John
de Janeiro, mounied

by none more than

Whittaker died at Rio
Ijy all his friends, and

(Utrselves.

—

f "Eyes" of water a term probably
translated from the Arabic
in the Uracil
many jilaces arc so called.
:

X Another

sjiecies

of

Silk-cotton tree,

"le fromager ventru," is called from its
prodigious central pot belly, the " Barrigudo "

(Chorisia

or

Bombax

venti'icosa,

There are in

Arr. ).
Africa,

many kinds

tlie

Brazil,

of this tree,

as

iu

some with

wrinkled but unarmed bark, others with
thorns
the flowers are white pink, or
white and pink, they easily fall like the
blossom of the Calabash
the leaves are
either entire or have one to two lobes. The
:

;

bole gives a %iscid gum, and in some species
the soft spongy centre is filled with largo
larv;»?, which the savages used to eat.
The
fruit, about the size of our largest pears,
yields a cotton of which no serious u.se ha*
yet been made,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

158

spurs, over which

no one but

Dahoman Amazons

[chap. xvi.

can pass.

The

palmated leaves set off a profusion of pink and Avliite
resembling the richest tulips, and these are soon
followed by pendants of useful, but not yet utilised, cotton-pods.
large

blossoms,

On

the road side was the Chapel of

N'''

Lapa

S^ da

;

the gossip

was a magnificent Gamelleira, a pyramid of cool
green shade, almost equalhng the sycamore of Halmalah, or the
piles of wild fig which adorn the eastern borders of wild Ugogo.
About mid-afternoon we reached Camapoao * district and
The little
streamlet, the latter crossed by a dangerous bridge.
small,
repair's,
and
a
few
fazendas,
and
under
large
chapel was
bear
coffee
and sugar.
We noAV
showed that the land could
tree opposite

it

entered the cretaceous formation, wliich corresponds with that of

Sao Paulo, and scattered upon the path lay dark

flints

embedded

in white chert.

At the end of the march we inquii-ed for a restmg-place, and
were shown a deserted Ranch-shed, green with decay, and crj'ing
One Jose Antonio de Azevedo i)resently took
fever and ague.
us in, and proved himself a bitter draught a veiy "niggard

—

and misknown knave," the model of grumbling incivility and
This old wretch startled us. The
extortionate rapaciousness.
traveller in these lands becomes so accustomed to the affable,
hospitable Brazilian Avays that he feels acutely those

displays

of small churlishness which he would not remark in a French

or English boor.

And how

rare are such bad

manners here ma}'

be judged by the fact that this Azevedo was the sole base excep*
tion to the rule of kindness

and obligingness.

This day we suffered much from the Carrapato,! and "realised"
the popular jest levelled at the Mineiro, namely, that he is
known by his jiatent boots and "fiddle." The nuisance is of

—

the genus Ixiodes of Latreille, and entomologists

whether

it

be of one or of two species.

still

dispute

The people

declare

that the Carrapato grande is different from the miudo, a small

and hardly perceptible
* Or

Camapuam,

trauslatecl

insect.

'

'

seins ar-

rondis," opposed to Camapirera, " peitos
cahidos."
Cama signifies the breast, and
" apoam," contracted to poam, round.
+ Not Carapatoo, as written by Mr.
Walsh, nor Garapato, as by the Eeligious
The former remarks (ii. S)
Tract Society.

Spix and Martins take this view,

that the insect, on account of its resemblance to the ripe bean of the Palmi Christi,
was called by the ancients Kporov and
riciniis.
It is the vincucha of Paraguay,
the tique of French Guiana, and the
licinus of old authors.

;

TO CONGONHAS DO CAMPC>.

cHAr. XVI.]

159

and Pohl named the former Ixiodes americanus, and the latter
Collar.
St. Hilah-e (III. ii. 32) and Gardner (293)
believe that there is only one kind, which greatly varies at difIt is the " tick " of the jMississippi valley, and
ferent ages.*
Ixiodes

when

fully

developed

it is

not unlike our sheep-tick.

This acaride, seen under the glass, shows a head armed with
a trident of teeth, serrated inwards the two external blades of
the terebro when entering the Hesh bend aAvay, forming a triangle
;

with the base outwards and downwards, and rendering
to

The

remove the plague.

it difficult

three pairs of short and one of long

and strongly-hooked claws, the
the colour is a dull
flat body is coriaceous and hard to smash
The young animal in early
broAvnish red, lilce the cimex.
spring is a mere dot, with powers of annoyance in inverse ratio
It grows fast, and when distended with blood it
to its size.
becomes somewhat bigger than a marrowfat pea.
In most parts of Minas and Sao Paulo the nuisance is general
every blade of grass has its colon}^
it seems to be in the air
clusters of hundreds adhere to the twigs myriads are found in the

legs are all provided with sharp

;

;

;

Lean and

growing on the leaves, the tick
catches man or beast brushing by, fattens rapidlv and at the end
of a week's good living drops o^,2^Iena cruorls. Horses and cattle

bush clumps.

sufler greatly

traveller

flat Avlien

from the Ixiodes, and even die of exhaustion.

soon wears a belt of

The

Lancashii'e.

i)ulicious

The

" shingles " of

most inconvenient places, and
bring on a ricinian fever,
Thus in East Africa Dr.
Russia.

tick attacks the

wound

the venomous, ii-ritating
like the

the

Intes, like

fever of

Avill

Krapf found a " P'hazi bug," which he declared to be mortal it
was the papazi, or tick, which sometimes kills by incessant
worry. In East xVfrica I used to scatter gunpowder over the
hut-floors, and to blow up the beasts before taking possession.
The excitement of day travelling makes the nuisance compara;

tively light

;

but when lying down to sleep the sufferer

is

per-

secuted by the creeping and crawling of the small villain, and
the heat of the bed adds

The

favourite habitat

The low

cattle graze.

much
is

to his ti'ibulation.

the Capoeii'a, or Jsecond gro^A-th, where

scrubs

known

as

rasco " are also good breeduig grounds.
''

Its

youth

is

said to

''

Catinga " and " Car-

Annual

commence "ith the dry

seawou.

prairie

fires

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

IGO

destroy millions
preserves,

;

but the Capoes, or bouquets

cle

[chap. xvi.

bois,

and the branches are incrusted with them.

does not exist at certain altitudes

yet,

;

act as

The

tick

when ascending Jaragua

my

overalls coloured pepper and
Below certain latitudes, also, the Ixiodes disappears. It
loves most of all cool, damp places, on the dry smmy uplands,
where it acts lilve the mosquito of the hot and humid Beiramar,
and is less common in diy and sunny spots.
On the upper
waters of the Sao Francisco River the ticks were a mortification
when I descended the stream about half way they suddenly
ceased, and reappeared only at intervals.
It is difficult to lay
down precise rules as regards their i')resence. Water is fatal to
them, and animals are freed from them by swimming broad

Peak, near Sao Paulo, I found
salt.

;

streams.

Travellers are also advised to

and

clothing,

The

to

hang

up

it

stranger, with his

child's horse

take off the infested

in the hottest sun.

body painted

like

an ounce, or

like a

plastered with red Avafers, applies for a remedy,

and receives a dozen

All have a

i)rescriptions.

common

object,

and not to leave the head
in the skin, otherwise the result may be a venomous sore, which
may last for months and even years, at times inducing dangerous
cutaneous diseases.
Some apply mercmial ointment others
bisect the tick's bod}^ with scissors
some insert into it a red-hot
pin. The people ai:)ply snuff at the end of a cigar, and when much
bitten they wash with spirits and a strong infusion of tobacco, followed by a tepid bath to remove absorbable nicotine.* In many
places, when attacked by a score at a time, I found these methods
too slow the easiest plan was to pluck oft' the animals before
they had taken firm hold, and to wash away the irritation with
countr}' rum and water.
to cause the beast's claws to retract,

;

;

;

The
its

general cure for the plague will be clearing the country of

ragged and tangled thicket and Avood, here called Mato Sujo,

or du'ty forest, and by substituting a cleaner growth.

many

tick-eating birds

performs kindly

offices

;

There are

for instance, the Caracara buzzard, that

to cattle.

Unfortunately, they are not

protected by law in the Brazil.

The decrepit greybeard, our host, after venting upon us his
independence, consented to cook some beans, rice, and onions,
liis

I met in tlic Brazil a French traveller who was
iiainfully intoxicated after nibbing
skin with a mixture of tobacco and native nun.

TO OONGONHAS DO CAMPO.

CHAP. XV].]

161

which he added to the contents of our provision basket. His
hovel was filthy as his person, and his Idtchen excelled the
average pigstye, yet he was miserly, not poor.
Though seventy
years old, he was living with two negresses; there was only one
bed in the house, and no amount of coaxing, not even a glass of

Cognac, would persuade him
and required his comforts.

to vacate

He had

it.

lately

He

was

" amarellao,"* a kind of jaundice here common.
hardl}^

permit a

hammock

in years,

suffered from the

He

would

swung, for fear of injuring the
The conversation between him and his
to be

and mud.
charmers lasted nearly all night. I was roused from my wrappers
on the table by seeing a bowie-knife and a repeating pistol make

walls of stick

their appearance.

My

wife

had been kept awake by

a

cmious

kind of whispering, and by hard listenmg she had heard the dark
and ominous words, '* Pode (pronounced paude) facilmente
matar a todas " Easy to kill the whole lot. She had forthwith

—

armed

herself,

pathy.

Of

and the dog " Negra

com'se, nothing occurred

"
;

began to growl in symthe slaughter alluded to

was x)robably that of the host's chickens, whose murder he feared
Whatever may be the desagremens of Brazihan
at our hands.
travelling in these bye-paths, the traveller

is,

as a rule, perfectly

safe.

Next morning we

left

the old Pongo,

whom

the troopers called

and ''grandson of Paga me logo,"f
grumbling that we had stolen his posts and rails for firewood.
The dawn light showed us an ugly mud hole, which would make
the hair of an easy-going man stand upright
the animals
plunged through it x)anting, and " Chico," the negret, stuck
*'son of

Ganha

dinheii'o,"

;

he was rescued.
Presently we were stopped by a wide ditch,
where a gate had been. This arbitrary proceeding is common in
the wilder parts, and at Sao Paulo it has lost me a whole day's
march. Fazendas and plantations Avere scattered about
we
passed a neat -white establishment belonging to Senhor Joao
He had been described to us as
Lopes Texeii'a Chaves.
" liomem muito brabo," who, if "in the humour," would have
I ought to have tried the experiment,
refused the " pouso."
till

;

and doubtless we should have rested comfortably
* In pure Portuguese " Amarellidao. "
Koster (ii. 19) alludes to this complaint,
which he identifies with jaundice. Accord-

;

unfortunately

ing to him, Afi-icans iu the Brazil are very
subject to it.

f

"

G-ain-C'oin,'" luid

"•

Pay-me-quick."

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

162

we had no Brazilian

made

in our i)arty, or everything

[chap. xvi.

wouhl have been

easy.

This part of the Highlands is
become numerous and luxuriant

a cold, red land
;

:

the Ai'aucarias

beans and hulls heaped upon the

well-swept floors fronting the cottages, show that " mantimento"*

There are signs of stock-breeding,
the principal industr3\
and pigs, gamit and long-legged, uproot the soil. At 8 a.m. the
view reminded me of a sunrise seen from the Peak of Teneriffe.
Below us lay a silvery water, flowing and curling before a gentle
is

from the distinctly marked shores jutted green
tongued capes, and stony headlands
feathery islets protruded
their dark heads from the white flood, and far, far oft' we could

three-knot breeze

;

;

famtly discern the fm-ther blue coast of the Straits.

The

decep-

tion was complete as the Arabian Bahr-bila-Ma, or " sea without

water," and the Mrig-trikhna, or " deer-thii-st " of the Hindus.!

Descenduig, we found the water to be a cold fog, or rather a thin
cloud, with distinct and palpable vesicles condensed by the ground.

At

this season the

phenomenon appears almost every morning.

We

then breasted a hill-ridge, up which straggled red paths,
over a quarter of a mile in breadth. A single house was on the

gainmg it, we were surprised to find Suasuliy,! a
some 300 houses, and banded Avith broad lines of rough
pavement to prevent the red clay being washed down. The lay
was east-west, and it was backed by gardens and orchards. In
the middle of the lower thoroughfare was the Matriz of S. Braz
upon a raised platform of stone, two belfries with a pair of bells,
and a restored front copiously whitewashed. The women Avere
in jackets of scarlet baize, the favourite Avinter Avear, and the
sunnnit, but,
street of

children hid themselves behind the doorways as Ave passed by.
*

A

term

locally aiiplied to all

"Munition do bouclie."
t The Mirage. The Arabs

also

kinds of

know it

as

Bahr-el-Ghizal, the Deves' Sea, Bahr-elMejanin, the .Sea of Madmen (who expec-t
to drink of it), and the Bahr-el-Ifrit, or
Fiend's Sea.
t St. Hil. (III. 2, 202) makes Cuagu
mean a deer in the Indian dialect of the
Aldea de Pedras thus we should trans:

The cele"deer's water."
Rodrigues
brated naturalist, Alexandre
Fen-eira, explains the Indian word for stag,
Suha assd may it not be Suia assu, large
game? to signify "big head;" bxit he
derives it preferably from €uu, to rumi(^(m assu tlien would be a ruminant,
nate
late Suasuhy,

—

:

—

aud

it.s

young "Cua^u Merin " (not minor

Casal wxites " Sasin the sense of small).
suhy " PizaiTO " Sassnhy " and " Suas:

suhy," Spix and Mai-tins " Sussuhy," and
St. Hil. (I. i. 400) derives it from "Cuchu''
petit parroqnet,

and "yg" water—Ki^-i ere

Jlr. AValsh writes
des petits jiarroquets.
" Sua-Suci, or Snssuy," and heard about it
some tale which reminded him of the Araj
Philenorum he was, it seems, a greedy
recipient of "humbug," that reverend man.
Eurmeister prefers Suassui, the " AlmaVulgarly it is wi-itte)i
nak " Suassuhy.
Sassnhy and Sassui, and is translated
" Veada com filho," doe and fawn. In
the Province of Sao Paulo there is a " SuaMirim," explained to mean the little doe.

—

TO CONGONHA« DO CAMPO.

CHAP. XVI. J

163

Senhor Antonio Jose Cardoso, of the Hotel Nacional, gave us hot
and a good breakfast, all much requii'ed.
At 11 a.:m. we remounted, and felt the sunheat after the cold
damp dawn. The nearest ascent, where stands the Chapel ol
N* S* dos Passos and the village school, gave the fii-st of many
pretty back views.
The road was a rough cross-country affair,
over a succession of ground waves, divided b}' rivulets that feed
After a short hour we crossed
their main drain, the Paraopeba.
the bridge of this stream, which was red with gold-washing even
after discharging into the Sao Francisco, it is said to preserve
Near the fazenda of Senhor
for some distance its ruddy tinge.
water, clean towels,

;

Gonzaga we found a dozen gipsies, all men, resting
on the ground, whilst their beasts grazed on the roadThese mysterious vagabonds are rare in Sao Paulo,
side grass.
and numerous in Minas, where they are horse -chaiinters and
They
hen-stealers, as everywhere between Kent and Catalonia.
are evidently a different breed from the races around them, and
Col. Luis

tentless

wavy haii' is the first thing remarked. I shall reserve
volume a detached notice of the Brazilian '' Cigano"
that object of popular fear, disgust, and superstition.*
Passing the Piquiry stream, we found the land greatly improved. It produces several kinds of manioc, and the red variety
(Mandiora roxa) here ripens in five months. There were long
slopes green with grama (Triticum repens), and the thickets
were rich in climbing Cyperacea sedge, wdiich, mixed with the
young Capun Gordm'a, makes excellent forage. This plant is
known in the Brazil as "Andrequia," "Andre's knife," a mixed
word, Luso-Indian,f which well expresses its x^owers of cutting.
I'he road was hedged with a gorgeous growth of golden broom, profusely blossommg, and reminding the European not a little of his
then' long,

for another

—

lioneysuckle.
it is

The people

most beautiful

comparatively rare.

call it the

in theii" mid-winter,

flor

que

(Chamuo de
* So little
/iliau

w known

u.'-ually

when

floral beauties are

has justly claime<l a place in poetry.

It

Outra engragatla

that the

" flower of St. Jolm,"t because

ubout the subject
well-infonneil Anglo-Bra-

Times ignores the presence

of gipsies

Empire.
f According to Captaiu Speke (Journal,
the despot of
xiii.), IMtesa,
itc, chap,
Uganda ii.sed to have his sidijcct-criminals

in the

cnt to pieces after death, not witli knives,

em ramos

pemlc

S. Jo;\o,)§

wltich

are proklluted,

lait

with

.slips

of

tharp-eilgecl grass,

J Flor de

S. Joiio.

§ Another gi-acefid flower with pemlent
twigs

(Xauied " of

St.

John

').

Caramuri'i,

vji.

:J<!.

—

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

164

says Fr. Jose de S. Eita Durao.

Remarkable, too,

-

[chap. xvi.

-were the

snowy

petals and the long green pods of the leguminous shrub with

cloven-hoofed leaves (Bauhinia forficata, the mororo of the Inhere it is called " unha de boi," or, as some prefer,
dians)
;

" de vaca."*

Another pretty growth

Tpecacuanha,+ " the
tifies

with

little

is

the Poaya, a kind of

plant near the path," which

it

beau-

Here I noticed

small red and yellow trumpets.

its

had preserved their home custon)
wrong path with a twig laid transverse.
village of Redondo has a chapel dedicated to N* S*

that our Brazil-born Africans

of barring the

The

little

de Ajuda, and, better

a charming prospect.

still,

Bej^ond the

foreground of forest and green grass sprmging rankly from the
ochreous purple soil, a colour here known as sangTe de boi, t falls a
basin of regular slope and sole, rising on the far side to the feet of

a bluff stone wall towering in the

and north,
of

God

called in

is

help you

!

air.

This range, now to our east

some maps " Serra de Deus

— doubtless

from the

te livre,"

perils of the path.

It is

as the " Serra de Ouro Branco," from a

more generally known
town on the direct highway we see its white line threading the
The grand pile
ravines between Barbacena and Morro Yelho.
Avill long remain in sight, but a bulge in the ground concealed
from us the settlement.
Santo Antonio was first, and is still entitled White Gold, in
opposition to Ouro Preto, or Black Gold. The latter§ is darkened
by a little oxide of iron. The former is natural^ alloyed with

—

—

platinum-;

—a

rare formation.

The new metal

discovered only

two centuries and a quarter ago, and now used even for watchworks,

is

supplied in Minas by the gravels of streams flowing

* "Bullock's Hoof,"

Sy.stem prefers
it

amongst

"Cow's Hoof." The
Boi, and ranks

Unha de

the

astringent

mucilaginous

plants.

+ Poaya

is

in the Brazil a generic
Rubiacese.
The

term

true
emetic root is distinguished as Poaya
Verdadeira, or de botica of the apothefor this species of

—

The Sj-stem derives " ipecacuanha " from ipe-caa-goene, " the little
plant near the roads:" it is rather " the
littleplant which excites emetism " (goene),
and doubtless the wild mediciners well
cary's

know

shop.

its use.
Being much used in certain
feminine complaints, it may mean " the
little plant of the woman" (Cunha).
The
wnrd has been corrupted to Epicaqnenhn
and Picahouhn.
There are many kinds,

the Ipecacuanha -preta (I. officinalis arnida) the I. branca (Viola Ipecacuanha, or
Pombalia Ipecacuanha Vandelli).
;

+ " Bullock's Blood.
§ Mr. Walsh (ii. 125) says that black goM
" contains an alloy of a^Vccr, which acquires
a brown tarnish by oxidation when exposed
to the air. "

This

is

anjiihing but correct,

D. Antonio de Ulhoa, a Spanish savant
travelling in Peru (1748), speaks of it as
||

the third perfect or noble metal. The name
originally given
was " Platina," little
silver, the diminutive of " Plata," which,
in Portuguese, would be " Prata " and
"Pratinha." Europe has, I i)resume, pre
fcrred the barbarous " platimim " to assimilate it -svith f»mim nivl C'ii>niiii.

TO CONGONHAS DO CAMPO.

CHAP. XVI. 1

165

through table-lands and low hills.
A piece weighing half an
found
in
Lavras,
was
the
ounce
or diggings of the Barao de
Itabira, near Marianna. Harder than iron, and much resembling
gold, it gave great trouble to the old founders who wasted upon
it their solimao (corrosive sublimate), and wondered to see the
pale brassy bars Avhich " touched," however, twenty-two carats.

Dr. Couto says that about 1780 an unknown individual took a
portion

(parcella)

of

it

to

the

Government melting-house

at

was uncommonly refractor}-, as it split in two,
and cracked round the impression, the officer declared it worthThe disappointed miner disappeared, remarking that he
less.
never thought that it could be valuable, as he could find horse-loads
Although it was conjectured that he came from near the
of it.
little village of Santa Anna dos Ferros, the valuable dejoosit has
The mineralogist examined the
never been brought to light.
it weighed
ingot which he found at the Intendency of Sabarii
thii'ty to forty oitavas, or eighths of Portuguese ounces, and was
Some local paper credited
platinum, with a fifth part of gold.
me ^\-ith having rediscovered the mine I wish that I had.
About 3 P.M., as the ride was becommg delightful, we came to
a hiU crest, and Congonhas showed itself suddenly, as Trieste is,
The situation
or rather was, sighted from the old carriage-road.
side
of
a
charming
valley,
southern
an
oval
whose long
on
the
is
from
north-east
to
south-west,
is formed by the Eio
diameter,
Maranhao,* or " Skeiny Stream." The silvery water flows over
hind set in emerald verdure, a rich margin of meadow land, rare
Jags and gashes of
in Minas, where the bottoms are narrow.
white, red, and yellow clay on the upper bed are the only vestiges
of the once rich gold mines. To the north is a vast rugged ridge,
it is called Serra
(de N^ S'*) da Boa
straight and wall-like
Its cul^Morte, from a village and a chapel of that invocation.
minating point is the Peak of Itabira, which we shall presently
see, and here it forms a semicircle extending to the Congonhas
Mountains, a massive pile to the west. Eastward is the great
chain of Ouro Branco, which alters strangely at the different
Sahara.

As

it

;

—

;

angles of view.

At

first

glance Congonhas appeared to be

* MaranMo (anciently written Maranham) is a skein, a tangle: "arvoredo
emmaranhado," for instance, would mean

all

one church and

" matted bush. " The little stream rises to
the S.E. near Queluz, and winds round to
the Paraopeba Eiver.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

1(1(5

Presently a second temple appeared on the further

convent.
side

of the

riverme valley

colours were white,

bound

;

it

Avas

in black,

and the
do Monte,

double towered,
like

Madeira, which strangers and seafaring
vent."

[chap. xvi.

the

men

N"

S"*

will call the " con-

Lune-washed houses dazzling in the slanting glance of

the sun were scattered in a Ime on the transverse axis between
the two fanes.

unpleasant

AYe descended a rocky and paved ramp of most
and soon found ourselves under the roof of the

i)itch,

Alferes (Ensign) Gourgel de Santa Anna.
to

him

for ever

He made

us grateful

by giving us warm baths and " planter's

coffee,*

and he kept us waiting for dinner only three hours.
* "Cafe de fazendeiro " coffee -wliieh
the wealthy planter drinks, not the "agua
de Castanha," Chesnut v.ater. of Portugal,
;

not to speak of other lauds.
The former
leaves a yellow tinge when poured out of a
wliito cup, the latter does not.

CHAPTER XVIL
AT COXGONHAS DO CAMPO/
Distante nove legoas desta terra,
lima grande Ermida, que se chama,
Senlior de Matosinhos.
Cartas Chilcnas, 71'

Ha
"Some nine

leagues, stands a

oratory,

gi'eat

which

is

called

The Lord

of

ilatosinhos."

N^ S"^ DA C0N9EICA0, here a favourite invocation of the Bona
Dea and the Magna Mater, is a Mineiran Loretto one cannot
;

but wonder
unassisted,

to

see

such

labour in

moreover, by angelic

explain the cause

;

hamlet of

a

hosts.

tenement

a deserted

carved scutclieon of some old Fidalgo

;

GOO

souls,

The gold-washings
still

shows the

well-

moreover, at the begin-

now extinct, were still in the
made to work, at ecclesiastical

ning of the last century the Indians,
land,

and worked

architecture.

willingly, or Avere

The

Brazilian traveller often finds in wild places

and stately buildings which could not be attempted in the
Tlie church of Congonhas has no grounds or
present day.
moreover it has latel}'^ lost a dozen of its
estates settled upon it
few slaves, and the general opinion of enlightened Brazilians is
solid

:

decidedly against the successors of the Apostles binding persons
to service.
its

But from the

lltli till the 14tli of last

Romaria, a mixture of " patron " and pilgrimage.

* Coiigoulias is called

"doCampo,"

generic,

meaning

all

the shrubs

tliat

"Paraguay tea."

to

from Congonhas de Sahara.
Tlie name is common in tlie Brazil, having
been applied V»y troopers and travellers to
the many spots where they found the
.several varieties of Ilicineca;, of which the
most valuable is the Mate, or Hen^a do Paraguay (Ilex Paraguayensis, desi^ite St. Hil.
who, III. ii. 249, obstinately defends the
I will
incorrect old form Paraguariensis).
not describe the shrub, this has been done
liy eveiy ^vTiter from Southey downwards.
The Brazilian term "Congonha" is
distinguisli it

make

.

It

is

September is
Some 7000
also

specifically

applied to the Ilex Congonha, common in
Minas and in Parana.
The Congonha
Cimarrao is only the infn.sion, di-unk without sugar.
Carafina is Congonha of an
inferior kind. In Mr. Luccock (p. 523), we
read "Congonha is, in writing, commonly
substituted for Caancunha.
The name is
derived from a plant, an infusion of which
is held to be an excellent remedy in female
complaints."
Thus he confuses with Ipecacuanha the Congonha, which in the Tupy
tongue was kno\ra as Caa-mirim, f/^e little
leaf.

;:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

168

souls then lodge in the houses which

lie

[chap. xvii.

emjity for the rest of the

many

coppers and a few notes amount
and
some ,£2000 per annum, here worth i;20,000. The brotherhood of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos distribute the alms amongst
the people of the holy hamlet.
There was no better way be it
said with due respect for popular belief of founding a town in
the old Brazil than by instituting a Growing Stone, a Healing
Cross, or a Mii'acle- Working Image * these tilings were found
easily, as we now create a Spa by burying rusty nails M-ith quassia
and charging sixpence for admission.
The dii-ector of the college being absent, we called upon his
vice, the Kev. Padre Antonio Jose da Costa, a son of Siio Joao
he had resided here only a month. He kindly reproved us for
going to an inn, when there was so much vacant lodging for True
Believers, and, callmg for his key-bunch, he set out to show the
the free gifts of

year,
to

—

—

:

lions.

We

The steep and badly-paved
we descended yesterday has a branch to the right
places the stranger at the base of a tall brow, upon which
will

begin with the beginning.

cal^ada which
this

the Loretto

is

is

hill- square is

is

the church

;

to

a long range of double-storied buildings,

white above and j'ellow-ochre below
the

In front

charmingly situated.

the right or westward

:

the third or eastern side of

formed by poorer buildings, "porta

e janella,"

also pilgrims' quarters.

Ascending the

way

hill

—

t^-pical, I

—and bisecting the

presume, of "the hard and narrow
is a dwarf avenue of buildings

square,"

called the Sete Passos, the Seven Chapels of the stations.
The
two lowest are old, the next pair is modern, and three are yet to
be built wdien the contributions of the pious shall suffice this
last contains two of the normal fourteen, " stacions of Rome;"
:

and,

when

finished, the place

those Avho can or will afford

Avill

it.

be used as a burial gromid for

In former days the

of cut stone round the temple cost a total of £4:0
station represents £600.

the whole country

is

The expense

fine

pavement
a smgle

now

solely in the labour,

building material.

These oratories are low squares of
" Such images are called apparecido, or
apparecida, from theii- "appearing" on
the sea-shore, in streams, in caverns, et le
reste.
It is the fashion now to deny that
Catholics worship images
this is a truism
;

is

:

solid

masonry wliitewashed,

with the vulgar
as regards the educated
it is distinctly the reverse of fact.
And
by the operation popularly called counting
noses, how many of these are found in
;

proportion to those

?

—
AT C0NG0ISIHA8 DO (^AMPO.

CHAP. xvrr.

169

with terminals at the four angles, and " half-orange" domes and

Windowless and entered by a single door, they suggest
the humbler sort of " Kubbah," which protects and honours the
remains of Shaykh and Wall in Arabia and Sindli. The lowest,
number 7, lacks inscription, and represents the Last Supper.
Wooden figures, mostly mere masques or " dickies," without
finials.

bowels or dorsal spine, dressed like the traditional Turk of the

Clmstian Mediterranean type, are seated round a table richly

Our
spread with tea (or mate) pots, cups, liqueurs, and meats.
Lord is saying, " One of you shall betray me." All look with
quaint expressions of horror and surprise, except Judas,

who

sits

next the door, hideous of aspect, and caring as little to disguise
My wife complied
liis villany as lago upon an English stage.
with the custom of the place, took the knife from Judas his

and dug it into his eye, or rather into a deep cut which
cleaves his left malar bone, and then smote with it his shoulder.
This poor Judas
who, upon the DTsraelitic principle duly

platter,

!

carried out, merits the affectionate gratitude of a

The next
inscription,

copied

it

station, the

which

is

Agony

Redeemed Eace.

in the Garden, presents a peculiar

supposed mysteriously to be Greek.

for the benefit of

Grecians

ETioa(

)

I

have

:

CTvs

ma

(

c)

Gonia FiOLixivs
oiaBaT
The

first

new

of the

stations

shows the mercurial and somewhat

Hibernian St. Peter strikmg oft' the ear while the Saviour is
about to heal the wound. The inscription Tanquam ad latronem,
Surely such
the Pagan soldiers do.
Sec, does not merit notice
;

Roman-nosed warriors never could have existed unless they used
their proboscis as the elephant uses its trunk. But grotesque as
they ai'e, and utterly vile as works of art, these wooden caricatures
serve, I have no doubt, to fix their subjects firmly in the public
The
mind, and to keep alive a certain kind of devotion.
ci\TLlising,

or

rather the humanising,

service and the " patron

The

chui"cli is

an iron railing
the pilgrimage.

:

"

influences

of the parish

have already been alluded

to.

reached by four semicircular steps, guarded by

here an inscription commemorates the origin of

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZTL.

170

[phap. xvii.

MDCCLV.
VAD.V

JESU MATUBINORi
P.,
E.,
BENED XIY
PRIMUS HIC CULTUS OBLATUS
BUN,v

A
R.V

.

N.,

MDCCLYIII.
Fa

JUSEPHOa

TEMPLUM CONSTRUCTUM
MDCCLXI.
TANO.V

RE^DIF

GUI FAXIT
yETERNITAS,

The beginning was

a rongli way-side cross of

dark wood bearing

and dedicated to N° S"'. do
Matosinhos. About 1700 it began to work miracles the ground
was consecrated, and a small chapel was built, the germ of the
present church and seminary.
Before the entrance a double flight of broad steps diverges and
meets upon the adro, the usual spacious paved area, fronted by a
handsome stone balustrade, and commanding a hn-ely view. At
the angles of the sets of steps, and at intervals in the front of the
platform, are twelve gigantic* figm"es of the four major prophets ;
sundry of the dozen invidiously distinguished as the minor being
a rude

figure

of

Lord,

our

;

nowhere. Each figure

is

habited in conventional Oriental costume,

bearing a roll engraved with some remarkable passage ffom his

book, in Latin and large old letters.

The

material

is

steatite,

found in the neighbourhood, and the workman was the ubiquitous
Cripple, who again appears upon the facade.
The group has a

good

effect at a distance,

and

in the Brazil the idea is original

compares, however, poorly with the

Bom

Oporto, and the humblest of Italian holy

The

facade

is

simple rose-light
flanking towers.

extensive

:

:

Joel,

brown

there are two windows assisted by a very

small apertiu'es also are

made

in both the

These belfries are domed and finished with
an armillary sphere suj^i^orting an angel

terminals,

The height is a little above 8 feet.
the right are Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea,
Nahum, and Habhakuk, fronted by
Isaiah, Daniel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and
J Jaruch the Scribe.
Thus the four " gi-eat
lirophets" are uot in order of precedence.
"^

On

it

jilaces.

of course whitewashed, all except the cut

stone at the corners

:

Jesus de Braga, near

All agree that the statues are t^velve, yet
memorandum given to me I find them
thus descriljed
to the right Ezekiel, Habbakiik, Hosea, Joel, and Nahum
on the
left Baruch, Daniel, Jonah, Amos,
and
in a

:

;

(Miadiah,

:

AT CONGONHAS DO CAMPO.

(HAP. xvii.l

^vllo

bears

a

The

cross.

entrance

is

171

floridly

carved in the

saponaceous stone, so common in these parts
the
cherubs and the instruments of the Passion are better executed
than usual. The most artistic features are the doors of massive
gi-eenish

liard

;

wood, cut in highl}^ relieved rays, and jiainted ecclesias-

I saw this
and greatly admired it
tical green.

style for the first
:

time at old Olinda,

some of the bosses were raised

five

inches.
Little need be said about the interior
the walls are panelled
and frescoed Avith tawdry paintings, and hung with penny prints,
whilst the images are below criticism.
There are four side
cliapels, the first on the left sliows St. Francis de Assis, the
:

favourite St. Francis of the Brazil,

and the second on the left
life-lilce copy of the

has a S. Francisco de Patila, supposed to be a

The

Parisian statue.

organ-loft, over the i)rincipal entrance, has

and the choii", on its left, projects into the body
There are two pulpits of bare stone standing upon

a small instrument,

of the church.

animals

(lotliic

the former

;

the lateral cherubs are well cut, but the canopies

There are two box and two open confessionals

are inferior.

generally contain a

curiously pierced

The

stool.

sometimes made portable, are boards with a sieve-like
grating, supposed to separate the seated saint from the kneeling
sinner.
Perhaps this religious exercise of olden date might in
these ages be modified to a good purpose, by insisting that
priest and penitent should be strangers to each other, and
as both would doubtless strongly object to and ablior this
measure, it would add to it another and a fresh charm of morlatter,

tification.

The sanctuary has
productions

our Lord."

The high

— " the
Here

altar

a tunnel roof frescoed

Trinity

shows a large

veil,

S''

curious

Burial

of

of the Passion.

do Calvario

:

it is

the Virgm, S. Domingos, Sta.

and the Pioman soldier -wntli

thc^

is

the full-length efligy of

N^

S""

De Matosinhos— a

with angels kneeling and praying.
kiss the

X°

the

an altar-tomb, and when a board is reexposes the Cadaver, the grand object of the i)ilgrimage,

In the base
it

figure of

Anna tending

Luzia, Sta. Veronica with the

moved

with two

and

also are the finirteen stations

supported by Santa
lance.

Heaven,

in

The

hand with immense devotion,

of the floor close in front.

On

dead Christ,

faithful prostrate to

it,

and

as is proved bj' the sinking
one side is a small '' presepio " or

—a

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

172

crib

of Bethlehem.

Four

of massive

chandeliers

fine

[chap. xvii.

silver

illuminate the high altar and the body of the church.

The

sacristy has the usual small lavatory

pictures,

the building,

the rest of

like

and manutergia, Avith
and two bishops of

—

Marianna upon the ceiling. On the east is the Miracle-room,
long, low hall containing cxvotos in hundreds, memorial tablets
recording cures and escapes, and waxen models of unsound
limbs made whole. Here is preserved the old original wooden
cross upon which is cut
INRI
(the crucifix)

NO.

D.

S.

1VLA.TVZINH0S.

Outside and east of the church are two stones embedded in
they appeared to me quartzose

the area close to the w^alls

;

Growmg

Stone, which, despite the annual
One is the
tlie other is not
attraction of many kisses, steadily increases
Our priestly, guide sensibly remarked,
crescive in its faculty.
granite.

;

he would not answer for the

fact,

it might be, as all
This explanation, since the

but that

things are possible to the Creator.

days of " numquid Deo quidquam est difficile ? " is still popular
unfortunately it is wholly beside the
from London to Pekin
;

no one denies that the Almighty has power to do what
At Iguape, on the sea-board of
we often doubt that He does.
In both cases
Siio Paulo, there is a brother-stone with like gifts.
the parts around the mineral are trodden upon, scraped, and
Hence, possibly, the
carried away as relics and remedies.
growth. The harmless superstition reminds us, amongst other
one foot wide in a granite rock near
instances,* of the rent
Avhen
big
enough
to allow an ass and panniers
St. Levans,
to pass through, we may expect the end of the
homely fancy
question

;

—

!

world,
eai'tli,

sa}'

viz.,

—

—

the

conclusion

of

and a recommencement of

present

quiescent

convulsions,

if

rera

of

convulsionists

truth.

We

then visited the college, which began about thirty-seven

years ago.

Its founder

was the

Castro, a Portuguese Lazarist,

*

the
its

Exempli

gi-atiA,

late

who

Reverend Padre Leandro de
D. Pedro

also instituted the

the venerable Lniidou Stone of man}'

mai-vels originated in the

Tn

es Petrus, &c.

fable.s.

Doubtless these petral

AT CONGONHAS DO CAMPO.

CHAP. XVII.]

Segundo establishment

Eio de Janeiro.

at

173

Over the doorway

The

the date 1844, showing the latest addition.

building

is

is

and some forty side windows
but we saw
nothmg of the curiosit}^ described by Mr. Luccock " Behind the
church is another sacred singularit}', a garden in imitation of
Paradise, where Adam and Eve, beneath the cross, are sitting
large, with ten front

;

:

—

beside a fountain, in

The present

all

the nudity of innocence."

Padre Joao Rodriguez da
Cunha, a native of Sahara, and his salary, I was told, is 1801. per
annum. The Provincial Government is supposed to contribute a
yearly 400?.; but our guide complained that the assembly had not
paid it for two years.
There are seven professors and three
director is the Eev.

priests for spiritual matters

and seventy, and
situation for

a

all

;

the pupils average between sixty

wear the Soutane.

During the

college.

doctor nor apothecary has been

known

There can be no better
last three

years, neither

Congonhas, and as often
liappens to passengers and crews of ships without sm-geons, the
want has not been felt. Of course we were told all about the normal

woman who had

old

at

outlived the century.

Capuchins proposed to take charge of
an impossible condition exemption
from civil law, and subjection to theii* diocesan only.
This was
judged procaciter atque injuriose? "a tendency to obsolete theocracy," a " revival of the days of Gregory YII. and Innocent IV."
Sensible Brazilians have an aversion to the ecclesiastical Alma
Mater, with her curriculum of Trivium and Quadrivium where
youth is taught by esercizi spirituali contempt for worldly matters
where politics are subject to religion where state becomes handmaid to Church which inculcates unquestioning belief, blind obedience, austerity, asceticism, and self-abnegation,
vii'tues wholly
It is said that

this

the

—

academy, but added

—

—

;

;

;

—

unfitted for the citizens of a free

against philosophy being

made

commonwealth

:

they exclaim

the ancilla of theology, and to

traditional fancies usurping the place of the teachings of natui-e

they do not wish to see

;

human

reason represented as a deceiver,
and liberty of the press condemned with the " deluge of infernal
ink," and seventy-eight other " modern errors." Moreover, there
are not a few ugly reports of a peculiar hygiene being introduced

mto

these

seminaries,

such as nitre being

mixed with the

dietarj'.*
*

.Vppoiiilix to tlie Prciiilcntial Tielatorio of Itiiias for ISO-"), p. 08.

A

veiy

aMe paper.

THE HIGHIANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

174

[(.hap.

xvii.

On the other hand there is no doubt of the superior teaching
and discipline imported by the reguhir clergy of Europe into the
Brazilian establishments.

And

here, not being entitled to offer

an opinion upon such points in any country but my own, I leave
this great dispute, which is not likely to be settled for a handful
of years.

We

then descended the rest of the steep calcada, passing on
At the bottom is the
the right the ruined chapel of Sao Jose.
formerly
divided
the Comarcas of
which
little river Maranhao,

and Rio das Mortes, it is crossed by the usual wooden
On the northern bank is the hamlet of Matosinhos frontbridge.
ing Congonhas, " in the same manner that Gateshead does Avith

Villa Rica

respect to Newcastle-upon-Tyne."

N^ S^ da Conceicao, with

It

has a Matriz dedicated to

tolerable

a

facade,

and

near the

emblematic coat-of-arms cut in soapstone. The
About thirty years ago it was
interior was still under repairs.
struck by lightning, and one man required the " triste bidental."
I visited the old gold-diggings, and found them of little import-

an

entrance

ance. Caldcleugh has left an account of the industry* which was
still

thriving,

in

1825.

The

precious metal, twenty-two carats

fine, was found in the pores and cavities of friable or rotten quartz
injected into green-stone. Mr. Luccock detected dust-gold '* among

and the other component parts of the ground,"
ore "with equal certainty and in
nearly equal quantity, wdiether of the prevailing red hue or any
The matrix was crushed by
of the shades of brown or yellow."
stamping-mills, and the freed gold was made to run in the
usual way down streakes or inclined plains, where hides placed
schist-clays,

and the

latter contained the

in a contrary dii'ection to the lay of the hair caught the heavy
particles, t

We

returned our best tlianks to the amiable \'ice-director

;

his

attention and affability deserved all om* gratitude. Before shaking
hands he gave us, by way of memento, a parcel of toothpicks
made of a highly-prized lliana, locally called " Cipo de salsa."
How comes it that the " pahto," cleanly and comfortable, is still
obnoxious to popular prejudice in England?
* Travels,

Mr. Walsli (ii. 173)
227.
Coiigonbas, ilescrihes the
says
nothing of the
Paraguay tea, Init
Yet he had
temple or the gold mines.
amongst the Turks, ami h:v]
ti-avelled

pa.ssed

ii.

throngli

written a book upon Tiu'key.
+ This old system is still in use at Murro
Velho.
I reserve a longer notice of it for
a future chapter,

CHAPTER

XVIll.

TO TEIXEIRA.
iSao pois 0.S quatro, A A por siugulares
Arvoredos, Assiicar, Agoas, Ares.

Manocl Botelho de

It was

earl}-

noon wlien we

Once more we dewe then struck up the

Congonlias.

left

scended the liill and crossed the Maranhao
little

Ol'ifclra.

;

valley of the " Eibeirrio de Santo Antonio," a surface drain

of the " Serra da

Boa Morte." The soil was mostly chalk-white,
and the banks of the hollow ways, once level with
the ground, and now sunk many feet beloAV it, worn down by
torrential rams, and by the tramp of man aiul beast
still showed
stiff deep red cla}'.
The cross-country track abounded in artistic
views of " salvage sojde."
Congonhas, like a pearl set in
emeralds, lingered long in sight, and the Ouro Branco Range yet
gleamed high, towering in the limpid air.
like kaolin,

—

At

this season the weather is regular as a chronometer.

nights are raw and foggy in the low-lands

;

cold and clear, with high raised skies, planets that

moon

The

in the upper levels

make

the

look very dowdy, and sparkling stars that have not for-

gotten to twinkle because we are so near the ecpiator.*
Aiu'ora comes in oloiuls, and yet the cloud

Dims not but decks

lier

beauty

Between 9 and 10 a.m. we have the
whose effulgence ignores a thread of

:

full benefit of

the daj'-orb,

ciiTus, a vesicle of vapour.

After three or four hours of the solar distillation, wool-pack and

boulder clouds gather in the east

;

immensity, then they coagulate as

they
it

float

high in the blue

were, forming mackerels'

backs, and finally they Aveave purple hangings, innocent, however,
* In fact, I uften tlumglit on the lUo do
Francisco, even wlien the air was

Sai'

tiriest,

usual.

that tliey danced

more Juenily

tlian

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIT.

176

At times we prepare

of thunder or rain.
all

for

[chap, xviit.

wind and wet, but

agree that the signs are the signs of increased cold.

not always be
of the heat,

At 3

so.

p.m.

we have no more reason

and the sunsets are cool

and

clear,

It will

to complain
delightfully

tranquil, the evenings of the lotos-eaters.

After a couple of hours,

we entered a land

of iron, all black

and

The darkest soil was a degradation of
red sj)angled with mica.
the mysterious " Jacutinga," and the yellow-brown ruddy colour
came from hfematite, clay iron stone, often worked up in nodular or
there was also compact martite or magnetic
iron, which often 3'ields perfect specimens of the double pyramid,
and in places a crust of the quartzose amygdaloid, called " canga."
The chalybeate water ran splendid as gems over its bed of mineOnly two houses were in sight, the Fazenda do Pires, with
ral.
its avenue of Araucarias, and deep embosomed in the hills, an iron
foundry belonging to the Commendador Lucas Antonio Monteiro
botryoidal pieces

;

de Castro.

We

then began to ascend the Serra de Santo Antonio, an east-

west buttress of the Ouro Branco Eange. The little block hes on a
parallel with and about thirty miles north of the Espigao Geral
or Serra das Yertentes.* It
the

at

is

a mass of huge clay

mounds ribbed

and
deep hollows separating the bulgings are

sides with outcrops of finely laminated clay-shale

building slate

;

the

densely timbered and luxuriantly green, the effect of the Avater-

The viplands sparkle with bud
and blossom, mostly pink and yellow, and the gTass carpet looks
smooth enough to be stroked by the hand. At this season it is a
sheeny surface of greenish yellow, with dashes of broken colour,
and the edges seen against the air look worn like frayed velvet.
The path wound along the sides of these mound-hills, and a false
Not a sign of habitastep would have entailed a roll of 250 feet.
tion was in sight, except some roofless ruins in a hollow to the
In fact the scene was
right, which suggested the haunted house.
courses and the nightly mists.

unusually wild and romantic.

From

the

summit

*

we saw far below us a forked
between avenues of thick tangled

of the basin rim

stream threading the

hills

Burmeister's map, tlie Serra de
is the apex of the angle
formed by the SeiTa de Ouro Branco from
the south-east, and the SeiTa da Cachoeira
111

Saiito

Antonio

Thus it appears as a
from the north-east.
great westerly hay in the Serra Grande or
In Geber's map neither
do Espinha9o.
the feature nor the name is found.

CHAP. .will.

TU TEIXKIKA.

I

The main branch

groAvtli.

177

flowing west to east was faintly blue

whose waters,

;

it

from the
south-east.
They drain the noilhern wall of the Santo Antonio
Kange, which here separates the Valleys of the River Paraopeba
and the northern Rio das Vellias.* Both rivulets are described
as " corregos desconfiados "
not to be trusted and the angle of
descent shows that their floods are dangerous.
Anastomosing a
little about the ruins of a bridge, which was carried away by a
freshet in January 1867, they take the name of Rio da Prata.
Here then under our eyes is the task which is to occupy me
receives a streamlet

slightly green, enter

—

some three months of

—

river navigation.

The people

declare these

baby waters to be the head waters of the Rio das Velhas.
As
Mill be seen, a larger volume comes from a section of or bulge in
the Serra Grande (do Espmhago), called " Serra de S. Bartholomeu," and hing about tliii"ty miles to the north-east. The
Silver River, however, can boast of superior length

;

it is

in the

south-easternmost division of the great basin whose main drain

is

the Rio de Sao Francisco.

Of undefinable interest is the first sight of a newly born stream
new lands, suggestive as the sight of an infant, with the
difference that the source must grow to riverhood, whereas the
child may never become a man.
A panorama passes before the
eyes.
The little stream so modestly purling down its channel
shall presently become a mountain torrent with linns and kieves
and cataracts and inundations that sweep all before them. Then
in these

widen to a majestic river, watering acres untold, its banks
clothed with croft and glade, with field and forest, and supporting
the lowly hamlet and the mighty city.
Last in the far distance
spreads the mouth and looms the port, busy with shipping, the
link in the cliain of communication which makes all nations
brothers, and which must civilize if it has not civilized mankind.
Standing at the small fount we see these vistas with a thrill of

will it

pleasant excitement, not unmixed with a faint sensation of anxiet}'.

How many

and hardships are to be undergone, how many
be conquered before the task can be accomplished, before we can see the scenes of what is about to be.
risks

difficulties are to

* It must not be confounded -svith tlie
Southern Rio das Velhas, another considerable stream visited by C;ustelnau.
The
latter river rises near Dezemboque, flows
to the north-west, and discbarges itself

VOL.

I.

the Southern Paranahyba, the gi-eat
northern fork of the Paran^-ParagiiayFor the future, whenever the Rio
Phita.
das Velhas is spoken of, Noi-them will be
but understood.
expressed
not
into

N

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

178

The Rio das

A^ellias,

Paver of the Old

BEAZIL.

Women,

[ciiAr.

xvui.

derives its name,

upon
Old Devil," Bartholomeu

says local histoiy, from the three old squaws found squatting
its

banks by the Pauhsta explorer

**

Bueno, when in 1701 he first struck the stream at Sahara. The
etymology is somewhat loose and lame. The red men, we are
told by Sr. Rodriguez Valerio, a competent authority, called it
"Guyaxim," and a corruption of this word becomes Guaicuh}',*
still found on obsolete maps.
This would mean the " old squaw's
stream " (in the singular), and probably the early explorers mistranslated

now

it

into a plural, whilst their descendants invented the

classical three old

We
when

women.

forded the two forks that form the " Silver River," and,

them, the waters appear crystal

in

and the

strips of

rivei'ine

valley were

clear.

The beds

strewed with alluvium

and pebbles. The harder talcose
some resembled the balls and
others were not to be distineggs used by the Indian slingsmen
guished, except by the jiractised eye, from our rude drift-hatchets.
They probably suggested the weapon to the aborigines, and were
formed by nature as artistically as the celts used by the seaboard
On a future occasion
tribes to open then* 03'sters and shell-fish.
I shall have something to say about the^ " Stone Age " in the
Brazil, which lilce every other great division of the globe hitherto
explored, distinctl}^ shows the epoch :f it shows every variety, from
the rudest palcTeolithic wedge (coin) of sandstone to the neatl.y
chipped arrow-head of rock-erj'stal, and the neolithic or polished
galettes, water-rolled
cla3's Avere

stones

cut into peculiar shapes

:

;

stone axe, rivalling any Celtic hatchet.
terior

it

has not

3'et

Moreover, in the far inbeen thoroughly superseded by the Age of

Iron.

We

toiled

up the very red further

* Tlie

word is apparently an agglutinaGoiamim, old (woman), cunha (woman), and ig (water).
Possibly it may be
Cacuao-ig, which would bear Ihs same signification.
Yves D'E^Teux gives the six
ages of womankind
1. Peitan, babe; 2.
Konguantinmiry, child
3.
Konguantin,
adolescent
4.
Konguanmoucou, woman
Konguan, woman
5.
Konguanmoucoupoire, woman in foi'ce of age
and 6.
Ouainuy, old woman.
t The Brazil has a well-defined age of
wood, and the indigenes still use wooden
clubs and swords.
I am hapjiy to find the
universality and uliiquity of the "Stone
tion of

:

—

;

;

;

;

;

side of this interesting basin,

Age

" asserted

by that sound authi'opoloMr. E. B. Tyler, "Kesearches into the
Early History of Mankind, and the DeveThese nide
lopment of Civilization."
drift-hatchets are alluded to in " Notes on
the Antiquity of IMan " (pp. 85
87, Anthi'opological Review, No. 1, May, 1863,
Trubner & Co. )
and the literatiu-e upon
the subject is becoming imposing,
To me the era is esjiecially interesting,
because it embraces the period when men
gist

—

;

had not, or what is much the same, knew
The soul, innot that they had souls.
deed, seems to have been the discovery of
the Bronze Age.

cHAi'. XVII

TO TEIXEIRA.

I.]

179

Another large hollow
lay in front and beneath ns
the surface where not cut up by the
esbarrancados or water breaches, showed low timber above and
large tree clumps in the depths, a test of superior soil and better
On the right was the little
shelter than its southern neighbour.
mining village, " Sao Goncalo do Bacao," with white church and
guided by a manielon cresting the spine.
;

brown

The

huts.

lowest level was a green patch

known

as

and bananas, maize and manioc, cotton
it looked the
and the fibre-bearing Yucca or bayonet plant
quietest of spots, where a man might most easily be consumed by
Teixeu'a, rich with palms

:

age.

The northern background was

a picture.

We now

stand

full

and
snowy cloud lined with lively
crimson, cast a glow of gold upon the castled crag, " Itabii'a do
Campo,"* the Stone Girl of the prairie, which the Cornishmen
called the Peak of Cata Branca.
Early in the march we had
seen it, and it then looked like a hill crowned with two blocks of
From the basin
masonr}' somewhat out of the perpendicular.
rim of the Silver River, looking north-north-west, the rocks that
jagged the summit appeared to form a single block. Here the
head has a trident of three tall black prongs, and when winding
eastward we shall often see it rising sudden and single like the
Chimney Rock of the Plata River. Its form and plan recalled
Itaberite formations.

in the presence of the great Itacolumite

The

to

sinking sun, canopied

mind many

b}-

a half-forgotten legend of enchanted stronghold

and magic mount, and curious tales are told about water springing
from its base, and a shaft sunk by Nature in its depth.

* Dr.
Couto, wlio fouiul crystiillized
copper upon its flanks, translates the name
" Mo^a ou rapariga de pedra." St. Hil.
renders Yta bira " pieri-e qui brille."
" Yta," more often ^\Titten "Ita," occurs
in many Brazilian compound words liorrowed from the aborigines, and means rock,

stone,

or metal,

especially

iron

;

whilst

"bera," or "berab," is to flame. The
usual explanation of " Itabira " is pointed
Ca.stelnau calls it "Itabiri," but
the loss of his JISS. compelled him to wi-ite
stone.

much from memoiy. The distinctive "do
Campo" prevents confusion with the Itabira
do Mato dentro ("of the interior forest"),
We
a magnificent pile to the north-east.
shall find also Cata.s Altas do Campo opposed to the Catas Altas do Mato DcTitro.

Tliis

geograpliical feature will

lie

noticed

in Chap. 30.

From

Itabiras, the reader will
derived the name of the
mineral "Itaberite," a slaty rock of grauular cjuartz and iron of several varieties,
Eschwege, who fathered
often pure oxide.
the word, describes the mineral as feiTUginous schist, and makes it the matrix
At this Itabira do Campo
of the diamond.
begins the westernmost iron-Cordillera, described in this portion of Minas Gcraes.
It will run to Curral d'El-Rei, cross the
Rio das Velhas at Sahara, and near it form
In its lower slopes
the SeiTa da Piedade.
gold is abundant, mostly associated with

these

remember,

iron,

is

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

180

BliAZIL.

[chai-. x\ hi.

We

passed a ranch, whose tall and long-bearded owner, witli
broad-brim pulled low over his brows, regarded us smiily and
vouchsafed no reply to questions concerning the night's rest.
This individual, known as " Joiio Militao," has the reputation of
felt

being a " valentao " or country bully, and, worse still, he is
spoken of as a " capanga," a bravo or professional assassin. The
latter gentry, relics of a

barbarous age, are unhappily not yet

The Pundonor
and the duello being unknown,

extinct in the provincial parts of the Brazil.

being

men

still

a mainspring of action,

use the services of the hired ruffian with

and the enemy

is

will,

like

squeamishness,

As education advances and manners

lord of the last generation.
are softened

little

potted from behind a tree like the Irish land-

by increased intercourse with the world, the disgrace

the

old

Poderoso,

become

obsolete.

We

to the Sr. Militao at least as roughly as he did to us,

next morning he

civilly

entered into

conversation

behaved
and the

about the

parroquets which we were shooting.
Hajipily

we found next door lodgings

Teixeira, a saddler

:

he

Avas evidently

in the

house of Jose

not rich, but he was kind

and attentive, and his wife aided him to make us comfortable upon
our little beds of sticks and straw.
The third and last

"morador"

or squatter in this green

armed wdth a gun, and much

excited.

i)atcli

Upon

came in,
we had met

presently

the road

running purjioseless and looking fagged one
it with a hunting whip
it did not cry or
leave the path, but kept doggedly on without attempting to injure
any one. Seeing its skin wet I did not suspect hydrophobia, but
a small white

ciu-,

:

of our party struck at

arrived at Teixeira,

we were

:

told that

days, and had bitten sundry animals.

it

liad

been rabid for some

—

CHAPTER

XIX.

TO COCHE D'AGUA.
O China allegre, fertil e jucuudo,
E o chao de arvores muitas povoado
E no verdor das folhas julg-uei que era
:

AH

To

sempre continua a primavera.
Eustacliidos, by Manoel de Santa Maria Itaparica.

the right or east

and

of,

ahoiit a mile

and a half from

Itabira Peak, there is a gentle rise, the site of the mines and the
village

A

of Cata Branca.*

fortunes

may

be interesting

:

few details concerning
it

now belongs

Company, and better days may again

The ground, belonging
Portuguese,

i:)assed into

da"VMi

to the

upon

its

former

Morro Velho

it.

originally to poor settlers, Brazilians

the hands of the Count of Linhares,

and

who

sold the concession to the late Dr. Cliffe, an Aiigio-American.

The latter, a man of true trans- Atlantic energ}- and self reliance,
paiied with his right to the " Brazilian Company," raised Jan.
and during that year the superintendent, Mr. A. F.
Mornay, completed the purchase.
The mining estate, including the fazendas of " Santo Antonio,"
which was bought, and " Ai-edes " (P. N.) which was rented, lay
favourably, 4350 feet above sea-level, t within two miles of the
28, 1833,

*

"Cata"

sometimes en-oneoiisly
derived from "Catar,"
nearly synonymous with " Buscar," to seek,
Tlie
but with the sense of Imnting.
miners applied it to a pit sunk in the
upper strata till they reached the auriferous
matter, whatever the formation might be.
Castelnau (1843) visited, and has left a
good historical description of the mine
from the obser\'ations of M. Weddell. My
notes arc taken from the Reports of the
Brazilian Company 1833
37, modified by
ttTitten Calta

is

;

it is

—

reliable information.

f Doubtless

much

exaggerated.

Mr.

Morro Velho, took the obsen-aupon theSeiTa, not the Peak of Cata Branca.
They
were on July 12, 186i
Goi-don, of

tions with a Pelissher's aneroid

1.

Bar. 27-40

This would reduce the height in the text
to about half.
Mr. Gordon also makes the
" Itacolumi Peak " of Ouro Preto to bear
rlue

east of

Itabira.

The maps

of

MM.

Burmeister and Gerber place the former
east-south-east (39°) from the latter.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

182

[chap. xix.

Corrego Secco village, four miles or six miles by the long road
The
from Itabira town, and 35 from the provincial capital.
soil was poor, but within a league were large rocas or farms in
Campo land, which supplied provisions to Ouro Preto.

The

Serra of Cata Branca trends where mined from east of

The containing rock proved to be
micaceous granular cjuartz with visible gold, as in California.
The strike was N. 15° West, and the dip from 80° to 85° in
some places the stratification was nearly vertical, in others it was
bent to the slope of the mountain, and generally it was irregular.
The lode, narrow at the surface, widened below from 6 to 18
feet, and the greatest depth attained was 32 fathoms.
The

north, to west of south.

;

quartz formation was of

common

many

varieties, soft sugarv,

hard smoky,

white, and blue, which proved to be the richest

;

and

the sides were hard quartzose matter equally bad for sjialling and

The

blasting.

south-eastern end was most productive.

On

the

western side of the quartz were found the ferruginous formations

"C^nga" and Jacutinga;"

the latter was struck by drivings

below the Serra ridge, here a mass of iron peroxide

:

made

the works,

however, wanted ventilation, and were abandoned.
The lode, which could not be called a " constant productive,"
abounds in " vughs " or vein-cavities, tubes, pipes, and branches,

—

by the Brazilian miner " olhos " eyes, surrounded by a
soft material, mainly running vertically, and richer in free gold
than the average. Near these pockets, but not disseminated
through the vein, was a small quantity of auriferous pyrites, iron
and arsenical. A little fine yellow dust, oxide of bismuth, ran
down the middle of the lode, and gave granular gold. The best
specimens averaged from 21*75 to 22 carats, our standard

called

gold.

The Santo Antonio lode lay parallel with and east of the Cata
The Ai-edes mine, 8 miles to the south-west, was beyond

Branca.

the Peak

here the Serra is covered with boulders of hard quartz,
very numerous at the base of the great vein.
They rest on the
:

common,

soft,

various-coloured clays of the

country, and are

intersected with lines of sugary quartz, which gave a

little

very

This formation extends far to south and west of
Itabu-a
openings were made in it, and one, the '' Sumidouro,"
was successful.
Aredes showed also a small formation of Jacutinga containing red gold, sometimes alloyed with palladium, and

fine

gold.
:

:

TO COC'HE D'AfU'A.

tUAr. XIX.]

accompanied with oxide of manganese.
it

contained 1

— 2 square

183

The

soil

was good, and

miles of arable land that produced

all

the cereals of Europe.

Mr. Mornay, afterwards Superintendent of C-ocaes, and ViceDirector of Cuiaba, began with a salary, besides house and all
civilized luxuries, of .:£3000 per annum, and this was paid out of a
In November, 1833, he was followed
capital of 6000 £10 shares.
by Commander C'otesworth, R.N., who afterwards died at LiverThe latter was like all the " Ser\dce " superintendents,
then such favourites at home, a strict disciplinarian, active and
energetic, fond of riding horses till they broke down, tetchy on
pool.

the subject of his rights, and " zealous in the discharge of his

—which

Finding the mine an immense
led to disputes.
had to fork* the water wliich filled the shafts, and to
The mine began with the antilevel, dial,! and measure afresh.
''
crushing," by horizontal
rather
or
of
''stamping,"
quated practice
duty,"

hole, he

millstones of hard, tough, quartzose matter

;

presently the best

machinery in the Empire was put up. In 1835, besides hired
labourers, " Cata Branca" employed 38 Europeans, 76 negroes,
and 34 negresses.
In 1844 the mine fell in. The sole had become sloppy, and
the liquid Jacutinga could not be drained by any mechanical
force
the ground was not properly timbered, and the side-thrust
;

The general account is that
till it was enormous.
Englishman, were killed
an
of
them
workmen,
one
thu'teen
declare to be exagothers
which
some increase the number,

increased

gerated.

one unfortunately of very many,
was an utter absence of
economy, and as Mr. Moshesh justly observes, with peculiar
applicabiHty to Minas, even gold may be bought too dear.
Secondly, the mine was badly worked. Jacutinga was then an

The "Cata Branca"

failure,

resulted from two causes.

Firstly, there

unknown formation, but English miners, especially Cornish men,
have learned everything, and consequently they will brook no
Those who do not judge them by their own standard
teaching.
are willing to grant that they have acquired by rule of thumb
*

To "fork," i« to reduce the water to
proper level till the mouth of the pump
hose can be seen.
+ The sons of old Kcriiou used to call
its

the theochilite a dial, hciire " dial ling " is
applied to underground levels and surveys
from a fixed station.

—

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

184

BllAZlL.

[chap. xix.

But since the clays
sometliing of mineralogy, nothing of geology.
Howel or Houol, " king of small Brittany," they have been

of

Who can
heaven-born muiers with the airs of omniscience.
forget the naive speech of the Cornish gang-captain, who told
Robert Stephenson that a north country could not possibly know
I have seen the offer of a "practical
Cornishman " to do for ^50,000 what a " theorist," that is to say a

anything about mining?

man, educated in the scientific schools, could not effect
Mr. Practical was believed b}^ a practical public
in England still linger old superstitions about rule of thumb,
which makes men easily take the bait and the consequence was
that the practical shareholders soon found themselves safe in
Chancery. The fact is that Tre, Pol, and Pen are good men and
true, but they must take to heart what was asserted a little
professional
for

£100,000.

—

farther west, namely, that
Joliu P. Robiusou, he

know

Said they didu't

ev'rythiug

'We shall trace these same two

down

in Jiidee.

evils, reckless

expenditure and

want of exact knowledge, in the history of many other mining
adventures.

Hence

it is

that in this land of boundless mineral

come to grief, and so man}- a
to use the technical word, " knocked."

wealth, so man}' comi^anies have

mine has been,

After a delightfully bracing night, we rose with the dawn

;

again however the old white garron had strayed, the mules had
followed,

and the glorious morn had waxed hot before

the saddle.

The

bridle-path

da Plata, a baby brook

m

fell

at

it

saw us in

once into the valley of the

a sandy and gravelly cradle, a world
shrunken stream.
Six times we forded the
limpid waters Avhich ran north^vards, we cut the throat of two big
bends, each with its drain from the west, swelling the main line,
and we halted for breakfast under a fig tree, upon the banks of
the Corrego do Ba9ao.
The little Arraial of that name, rich in
vegetables and fruit trees, was hard hj, and the miners came out
of their huts to stare and chat.
The valley, when we struck it
once more, was floored with loose sand, and heaped as usual with
" spoil-banks," and mounds of washed red clay. Another hard
pull up the left buttress was enUvened by the beauty of the vegetation, and our ears were refreshed by the under-murmur and the
bubbling of abundant streams. The birds were more numerous
E,io

too wide for

its

;

10 COCHE U'AdTA.

rilAT. Xl\.

185

than usual the paricxiuets chattered from tree to tree, a noisy
woodpecker* screamed in the bush, and hawks floated high in the
AVe then walked carefully down a hideous causemistless air.
wii}- of rock, paving stones, white earth and sandy dust which
;

A

rose in suffocating clouds.

liollow lane of incipient sandstone

walls, told us that

and, here and there, dry

we were apiu'oaching

a settlement.

After about four hours

Campo

(jf

actual riding

" in a

we sighted "

Jtabira do

The stream which divides

punch-bowl below us.
running from east to west, is crossed by a tolerable stone
bridge, and the banks are used as bleacliing-grounds, white with
On the south of the
raiment and black with washerwomen.
"Freguezia" are the chapels of N^ S^ das Merces and Bom
it,

de

Jesus

Matosinhos

to the west is the Rosario, whilst the

;

body of the village contains the matriz of N'* S^ da Boa
Viagem and S'<' Theresa. In fact the church accommodation
would lodge the whole population, though hardly with comfort
most of the buildings are in a ruinous condition.

We
street

breasted another steep slippery causew^ay, the
;

here there were good houses, but

their doors the Desolation

all

The heat

of Dulness.

entrance

bore inscribed over
of the sun

induced us to dismount at a shop in the square of Santa Thereza,

and splayed eaves suggested a
The people were exceedmgly obliging,
chapel in Switzerland.
and gave us coffee with the least possible delay; they had long
tales to tell of pahny days, now set in night, when they established their sons, married their daughters to Englishmen, and

whose steeple with

its

tiled roof

enjoyed the excitements of loss and gain. " Itabira" throve with
the " Cata Branca " mine, and it decayed when " she " was
" knocked."
The Itabii-enses linger on, barely supported by the

Morro

Vellio mai'ket, and the

suffice to

keep

alive

Though warned

hope

memories of better times hardly

for the futiu'e.

"
that Ave could hardly reach " Coche d'Agua

before nightfall, and well acquainted with the horrors of a Brazilian cross-cut after dark,
1 P.M.

Another causeway, a turn to the
" in the worst

left,

line,

we

set out at

and we were again

was now a " hobbleand most unmanageable phase, turbid, noisy,

in the Valley of the

dehoy

and on an unknown

*

Silver Stream.

Known

It

as the Pioo cliao-cLSo.

-

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF

186

THP: BRAZIL.

[chap. xix.

and shallow. Six miles of unusually good road placed us at
Mazagao,* the iron foundry of the Capitao Manoel Franca.

From

this place to

our destination

bridge was broken down, there
left

is

is

only six miles, but the

no road along the

jn-ecipitous

bank, and we were driyen to a detour of a useless league and

a half westward, north-westward and northward.

Ladders of clay and rock led uj) the ascents of remarkably steep
pitch the ground on both sides was clad in " dirty forest." A single
;

house, with a

little croft,

belonging to one Pereira, Ayas the only

was not a desert. We met but one party, probably returning from some family festival, wedding or baptism.
The girls rode on before their parents, as they are made to walk
in the old-fashioned towns of Italy and the Brazil, Pa and Ma
bringing up the rear, and marking down with four eyes eyery look
given and received.
One maiden, a pretty specimen with nutbrown skin, blue-black hair and roguish glance, Ayas seated in the
proof that

all

manner masculine,

a sensible practice

now

obsolete here, except

amongst the Caipirasf, and the slaves. Yet I Ayould recommend it
to Avomen Avho tempt the b3'eAyays of Brazil; here side-saddle and
sku'ts are really

dangerous to limb and

Trotting over the table land,

life.

AA'hich Aye

found

much

too short,

we dropjDed by another long and tedious descent into the river
valley.
To the end of this march the hills are bluff soutliAyards,
and

fall

in long gentle grassy slopes to the north.

* This word

lias

siire.id

over the Por-

between the Brazil and
Hindostan, where we wi-ite it " Mazaganm," as if it had any connection with
"Gaum," a village. The name is Moroocan, and commemorates the Christian vietiigiiese

colonies

"Mazagan."
f In Sao Paulo "Caiplra" is prefeiTed
in Minas, "Caipora. "
The " Caypor " of
tories at the Port of

;

Mr. Bates, i. 89, is, I presume, a misprint.
Both are corruptions of "Caa," a bush,
and "-pora," who inhabits.
Thus the

means " bushman," or
" Tapuya-Caapora" would be a
" aba-caapora,"
wild (brabo)
Tapuya,
homme des bois. Amongst the Aborigines
"Caa-pora" (not Caypora) is a spirit or
demon that lives in the forest, a wood-imp
reputed to be malicious, and fond of robbing children, which he stores in a hollow

tei-m

literally

savage.

In old authors we find Curupiora
the old Jesuit Simao de A''asconcellos interprets the word " dsemon of thought,"
spirit of darkness; others, "spirit of the
tree.

The path

woods," opposed to Jurnpari, or Jurupeiy,
the Devil.
Evidently there is a confusion,
physical and metaphysical. Sr. J. d'Alencar
explains Cnnipira by Curumim, a pappoose
or Indian child, and pira, bad; it was
usually represented as a dwarfish imp.
Jurupari is from Juru, a mouth, and apara,
crooked.
In popular use Caipira is applied
contemptuously to both sexes, and coiTesponds with our Essex Calves, Kentish Longtails, Yorkshire Tikes, and Norfolk Bump
kins.
A man will facetiously use it to
himself or to his family, but others must
not.
The civil name for a backwoodsman,
a voyageur (Canada), a Coureur des Deserts,
or Coureur des bois, is "Sertanejo," which
classical axithors write " Sertanista, " from
Sertao, the backwoods, the Far West, a
term which will be explained in its proper
place.
Southey (Explorations, &c., iii.
900) makes " Sei-tanejo " an inhabitant of
the "Sertam," and "Sertanista," a person engaged in exploring the "Sertam."

TO (OOHE U'AGUA.

.HAP. xix.]

Avas a

zigzag of the worst kind

187

again we

;

liit

the river,

now

a

flood in hot Achillean youth.
Impiger iracundas iuexorabilis acer.
^\.

swirling

torrent,

hardly to he

swum

not exactly yellow,

From

or forded.

hut dark and flavous,

the grassy slopes above, the

rush of Avater was imposing, hanked with bluffs 300 feet high, and
shaded with gigantic trees, hanging woods and wonderful virgin
a scene that would -surprise the admirers of poor

forests,

Dart, the wonder of Southern England.

The

little

bridge was un-

The sun
I felt no little anxiety.
bore us across.
three
tops,
mountain
the
rays
over
his
last
streaming
was already
"
illuSisters,"
of
Three
north,
kind
in
the
a
conspicuous knobs
sound, but

it

minated by the reflection. Night follows sundown like a shot at
this height, and in these low latitudes; the slope was desperately
long, the mules were jaded, and in places holes twenty feet deep

yawned across the path.
At length, after much straining of the eyes, we descended the
last pitch of road, and ere day was burnt out we entered, with
Here we found Mr.
no small satisfaction, Coche d'Agua.
L'pool, who had hurried on, determined to be under cover before
dark.

And here I venture to offer advice with the view of forming a
" comfortable traveller." Let every thought be duly subordinate to

self.

taking, or at

Let no weak regard for sex or age deter you from
least from trying to take, the strongest beast, the best

room, the superior cut, the last glass of sherry. When riding
lead the way,, monopolise the path, and bump up against all who
approach you they will probably steer clear for the future. If a
companion choose a horse, a saddle, or a bridle, endeavour to
In the
abstract it he had evidently some reason for the choice.
morning take care of No. 1 niuflle your head, wrap up your

—

—

;

your boots with cotton. As the sun rises gradually
"
open your umbrella
unshell yourself " good people ai*e scarce
and suck oranges, not omitting all the little contrivances of refecNever go to a hotel if
tion which your ingenuity will suggest.
throat,

stuft"

—

—

there be a private house within a league, and above all things
keep the accounts. Finally, if you invite a man to dine, score up
his liquor on the wall, staring
it

deter

vou 123

him from the other
milreis, when vour

him "

bottle.

friend

is

in the face," so shall or

may

And thus your trip will cost
minus 750 milreis a head.

CHAPTER XX.
TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO VELHO.
em Minas precisamente como se cultivam no tempo dos Paulistas
Emboabas."— P/r.^. lifjjort of Minas Gvraesfor 1865, Appendix, p. 25.

" Cultiva se
e dos

"A Vargem

do Coclie d'Agoa"*

—himible name

Water-trough

a stone cistern,

still

for a

visible in the

— the

humbler

River-rertcli

si)ot, is

of the

from

so called

now ruined house

of the late

Domingos Souares, a small "Creoulo"*f* i^lanter.
Dr.
Couto (1801), mentions it as a " sitio " and station on the old
western road from Ouro Preto to the then Tejuco. Actually it is
a scatter of some sixteen huts in a hollow which grows bad sugarcane, good potatos, and plentiful fuel for the great English
Lieut.

mine.

Jose Clemente Pereu-a, om* host, had been presented by his
wife with twelve sons,

and

theii*

increase was

fifty

grand

j)lus five

grandchildren; the family populates the place.
This "creating
souls" and breedmg citizens for the commonwealth, advances
here as elsewhere in Minas, by geometrical rather than arithmetical i^rogression.
I shall revert to the subject.
We all
intended to sleep hke hmnans who had earned their rest but the
night air Avas raw and nipping, the poor great-grandmother had a
;

bad cough, and Negra,
thoroughly intoxicated

my

mastift'-j^uj),

snored grimly,

by cachaca, poured upon

till

made

it

with that

before

we enter

intention.

And

here let

me

exi)lain

what cachaca

* Caklcleiigh (ii. 269), writes Coxo ile
Agua, and the Almanak (Joxo d'Agua.
The reader wll have remarked before this
that tlie etymology of tlie
remarkably
rich
Poiiuguese language
is
still
uusettled.
This is naturaUy the case with a
tongue spoken from the upper waters of

Amazons

is

Macao

Jajiaii.

The

elision of the letter terminating the

geni-

the

tn

anil

remarkably arbitrary,
Creoulo, or Creolo in the Brazil, is
applied to negi'ocs and things grown in the
country, and to persons either bora in the
Empire, but not of mixed blood.
tive sign is

+

.iiAi'.

TO Tin:

XX.]

civilized houses,

(lOl.l)

MINK OF

where the woid

MolIltO VKI.Ho.

]&9

aiul the thing are equally

abomi-

nable.

" Cacha9a," or " Caxaca," the "cachass" of strangers,
" tafia" of

the

is

a pretty word wilfully thrown away,
like the Spanish " tortilla," that means " scone."
It is the korn-

French

writers,

P)razil.
The commonest kind is disfrom the refuse molasses and drippings of cla3'ed sugar, put
into a retort-shaped still,* old as the hills, and rich in verdigris.
The peculiar volatile oil or tiether is not removed from the surface
the taste is of copper and smoke
not Glenlivet in equal proportions, and when the " catinga " or fetor has tainted the spuits

schnapps, the kwass of the

tilled

—

;

—

cannot be removed.! Otherwise it would be as valuable to
Europe as the corn brandy of Canada, and the potato brandy of
Hamburg, from which is made the veritable Cognac. There are
two kinds the common, made from the Cayenne! cane, and the
" Creoulinha" or " Branquinha," the old Madeiran growth; the
latter is preferred, as the "cooler" and less injui'ious.
Brandy,
said Dr. Johnson, is the drink of heroes, and here men drink
their Cachaca heroically; the effect is " Uver," drojjsy, and death.
it

;

man

Strangers are not readil}^ accustomed to the odour, but a
Avho once " takes to it," may reckon upon delirium tremens

an early grave.
or for

and

Its legitimate use is for bathing after insolation,

washmg away

Your Bra-

the discomfort of insect bites.

host generally sends a bottle with the tub of hot water.
The " Canninlia," in Spanish " Cana," is a superior article,

zilian

made from the cane juice fermented
rum, and when kept for some years,

in souring tubs

;

it

is

our

especially underground, the

Old travellers usually prefer
Pinga " to the vitriolic gin and the alcoholic Cognacs which
have found their way into the country
as the bottle is sold
for a penny to twopence, there is no object in adulterating

flavour reminds one of Jamaica.
this "

;

* Archaically called Alaml)ifiuc.

perfect heating and cooling of the rough
machine, cause the iiTemediable empji-euI never could light a spirit
watic taint.

lamp with the second
with the

distillation,

much

less

first.

"On

a d'abord cultive dans lo canton
la canne de Cayenne, mais tjuand on a
connu celle de Taitfe, on lui a donne la preference." (Prince Max. i. 83). Most writers
declare the Cayenne (Caycna), to have been

J

from " Otaheitc " about 1832
" Otaheite Cane " was introduced into

brought

t A more careful process would proljably
obviate much of this evil.
At present ini-

this

;

Louisiana and Florida, which formerly had
the "Ribbon Cane," the Creoula of the
The author above mentioned tells
Brazil.
us tliat in his day the commonest kind was
"
called
Agoa ardente de Canna " (ojiposed
to the agoa ardente do reino, /. e. rum,
when better distilled,
gin, Cognac, &c.)
"Agoa ardente de mel," and the best
" Cachaza " or " Cachassa," both -svrongly
spelled.
These c.xpi'cssions are now quite
,

;

obsolete.

190

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

the contents.

Drunk

and wet evenings,

it

BRAZIL.

[cH.vr.

xx.

in moderation, especially on

raw mornings

does more good than harm.

The people

have a prejudice against mixing

and prefer the style called
"Kentucky drink," or "midshipman's grog;" they are loud in

its jjraise,

declaring that

it

cools the heat, heats the cold, dries

When

the wet, and wets the dry.
for a

it,*

man

did

ever want a pretext

dram ?

The "Restilo" is, as its name shows, a redistillation of either
Cachaca or Canninha, and it removes the unpleasant odour of the
molasses spiiit. This form is little known in Sao Paido in Minas
it is the iDopvdar drink, and the planter calls it jocosely "Brazilian wine;" he prefers it, and justly, to the vile beverages imported at enormous prices from the " Peninsula."
There is
It is said to
yet a thii-d distillation, " Lavado," or the washed.
be so strong and anhydrous that if thrown up into the air it
descends in a little spray, and almost evaporates.
It is not,
however, distilled over burnt lime, and thus it never becomes
;

absolute alcohol,

t

rum upon the population, and the frequency
Cachacada or drunken quarrel, often ending in a shot or a
stab, will be found noticed in the following pages.
It was 5'15 A.M. on Saturday, June 19, 1867, the ninth stage
from Barbacena, and the sixteenth day after our dejiartm-e from
Rio de Janeu'o, when we were summoned to mount and to meaA thick white mist blurred the moon's
sure our last march.
The

effects of this

of the

Our

outline, here a sign of cold, not of rain.

escoteiro, however,

we followed liim with full confidence over a freshly repaired bridge, up and down hills like palm
oil, and across sundry short levels, Avhere the River Yallev, which
has now wound from east to north, widens out. Again I call by
courtesy a valley this longitudinal furrow which splits the mounon its right crowd the
tain range into two meridional chains
knev\^ ever}'

inch of the road

;

;

westernmost buttresses of the " Serra Grande," or "do Esjjinhago," whilst the eastern flank of the chain connecting Itabira

Peak with

its

brother apex Curral d'El-Rei,

* Mr. 'Walsh (ii. 8), gravely cliroiiicle.s
concerning " Caxas " " Our ho.st informed
me that it was a wholesome and excellent
cordial when taken raw, but he warned me
against mixing it with water."
Despite
which sound advice the traveller presently
;

tried

it

"hot with" and pronounced

it

to

hems

in the

left.

be a Ly no means contemptible beverage,
f The Restilo is the best for pi-eserving
specimens, but it affects the delicate colours
of the coral snakes for instance, and thus
eiToneous descriptions have become current,
If cachafa be used, the spirit must be

changed after a few days.

niAi-. XX.]

As

TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO YELHO.

191

Lucifer sparkled aloft bet^Yeen the Crescent and the horizon,

bright as should be the sun's herald in the Highlands of the
Brazil,

and the

air

became

fragments of cloud land,
chirp his matins,

and the pale

sensibl}' colder,

brass}'

when red reflections lined the
and the merry "Cardinal"* began to

dawn-light waxed faintly green

;

we again saw on our

the baby brook, the

left

hobbledeho}', the hot young torrent of yesterday,

now become

the

Rio das Velhas, and stamped with the signet of middle age, a
respectable fluviatile, progressing steadily three miles an hour,
broad-waisted as the
canoe, and

Richmond Thames, not ignorant

presently about to

call

for

of the

connection with and

settlement by a steamer.
Dr. Couto calls it O Vermelho Rio,
showing that the banks were then much worked and washed for

gold

;

An

now

it is

of

muddy

yellow hue.

hour's ride, ending with a steep incline, placed us at the

and freguezia of " S'° Antonio do Rio das Yelhas." f Its
is unknown, the date was probably when the Batatal, I
the Socco, the Engenho de Agua, and the PapamiDio Mines gave
abundant golden 3-ields.
In 1801 it had a hundred houses in
1820 the population was numbered at 1200 in 1847, Sr. Silva
Pinto § gave it 1086, and the Almanak (186-,) proposes 1300,
an estimate based on 115 voters and three electors. At present
arraial

birthday

;

;

has some forty-five tenements,

it

right bank.

We

found

mules halted mibidden

it

scattered

about the river's

a village of the dead-asleep

;

vainly the

and the Company's
private ranch.
The little Matriz was silent, dumb, and so was
its filial chapel
we had no desire to disturb then' echos. The
village has shops and mechanics
it breeds and it cultivates
" some," but the price of transport smothers exportation.
Sunday, when the parish meets to discuss its scandal and to do its
worship, galvanizes it into a manner of life, and at times a drunken
miner from ]\Iorro Yelho performs a lively piece, ending with a
" dance of all the characters."
The next horn* lay over a mud which in the rains becomes the
matrix of a small iron mine of mules' shoes. It was lateh' reat the familiar venda,

—

;

A

*

pretty red Tangara (.Tanagra epi.scolocally called Cardeal.
+ Alias Santo Antonio do Rio Acima,
" up-stream," thus distinguished from "S'°
Antonio do Rio AbaLxo," another village
''
do\\Ti-stream."
J This name, common in the Provinces

pus

!

),

of ]Minas Geraes and Sao Paulo, means that
the gold nuggets found there were common
as sweet potatos (batatas).
§ This gentleman's work was promised
to me at Ouro Preto.
Unfortunately the
promiser forgot to keep his promise.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

192

parts newly laid by

paired,

and

Preto.

The "troopers,"

in

[cum: xx.

BIIAZIE.

M. Gerber, C.E.,

of

Ouro

as usual, prefer the old familiar way, con-

The end of the league
sequently both lines are abominable.
showed us, on the left bank, a little white-washed church, S^''
Rita, and in the stream were two piles, once a bridge built by
men who ignored the art and mystery of pile driving. Beyond
it lies the Morro da Gloria Mme, belonging to five proprietors
the pyrites, finely crushed by six head of old Brazilian " ch^pas,"*
Here, too, is
yields per ton fths of an ounce of 21-carat gold.
the "Morro de Santa Rita" Mine, once an "open cut," now
fallen in, fast closed, and no longer exploited.
one league from Morro Yellio if so it
S''** Rita is said to be
;

;

the longest league I ever did ride.

is

Opposite

it,

the Estala-

gem, a big ranch, leads to tlie Santa Rita Mine, proprietrix
D. Florisbella da Horta, a widoAV who has worked her property
This " Lavra," or
with the Brazilian energy of an earlier day.
wasliing, which is still at times washed, is partially pj-ritic, and

brown auriferous oxide of iron with leaves of quartz

yields also

and

;

quarried with an open face like a stone pit, then stamped

it is

finally straked.f

third

The

loss of negroes

was great

Dr. Walker,

;

superintendent of Morro Yelho, informs us that in an

exceptionally short time, twenty -four out of forty seasoned

men

died of dysenter}^ and inflammation of the chest.

cumbered with grave-like mounds and
it is mostly grown Avitli thin
vegetation, sown by the hand of Time since 1825, when all these

Here the river-bed

masses of

gi'avel,

is

coarse and fine

diggings were in decay.
called

Marumbe,

t

;

The hard

darkened the

soil.

ferruginous material locally

Presently

Ave

turned sharp

from the Sahara road, and crossed the Rio das Velhas
by the Santa Rita bridge. The footway is 270 feet long, with
nine spans supported by trusses or trestles, the giixlers being
stiffened and prevented from Avarping by diagonal chains.
Built
in 1853, it has frequently been repaired bj' the English Company;
in 1859 Mr. Gordon gave it the last touch, since then two suj)porting posts have given way, making an ugly sag.
A bolster or
to the left

felling-piece of
" Stamps,"
+ This iise of

*

wood placed over

the cap-piece Avould

remedy the

of wticli more hereafter.
the word may not be correct
but it is very convenient, and amply
deserves to be made a passed and accepted

X Dr- Couto declares these Marumbes,
or Manimbis, which he writes " Marombes," to be copper ore of the ash-coloured
(cinzenta) species.
But he certainly hatl

verb.

copper on the brain.

;

ciiAi'.

TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO VELHO.

XX.]

defect

193

but the municipality would take a year of Sundays to

;

think and

tallc

over the matter.

the bridge, northern energy and capital were seen to

Beyond

Here, three miles from Morro Vellio, begins

assert themselves.

the estate of

Company

for

Fernam Paes," bought in 1862 by the Great
11,583L The mines, mostly pyritic, are those of
''

Gaia, Guabiroba (valuable ground), Samambaia, Servico Novo,
The new proprietors have
jNlato Yirgeni, and minor deposits.

tramway for bringmg the
and have cut a leat* through very hard
ground; the stamp site has been excavated, the framework is
being put up, so as to begin work at once, and the old manorhouse on the right of the thoroughfare had been repaired for the
cleared a twenty-feet road, have laid a

•ore to the

stamping

English miners

from

;

mills,

their sturdy northern voices greeted om- guide

afar.

We

Kiver Valley, which
and showed signs here of a "tip-over," there
Part of this ground
of regular flooding, as far as the hill foot.
ran for a short distance down the

bagged to the

left,

—

belongs to the Company, part does not, wliich, to speak mildly,
must be a nuisance. We then toiled up a red clay ridge, crept

and up another bad chine,
This Bella Vista shows the fii-st
glimpse of our destination, and joys our hearts. High in front
towers the peak-capped wall of Curral d'El-Kei, bearing its

down an

incline of similar formation,

justly called

"Monte Video." t

timber cross.

On

Velho, "the old

a nearer and a lower horizon rises Morro
mount," also cross-crowned, and supporting

on its brown shoulders " Timbuctoo " and "Boa Vista," the
white-washed and red-tiled negro quarters, t At om* feet is the
pit filled by the little town Congonhas, whose site is an ii-regular mixture of bulge and hollow, sprinkled with church and
villa, with garden and orchard, and beautified with its threading
On the ridge to the right is the Bella Fania
of silver stream.
farm, where the Company keeps its " great troop " of mules, used

and provisions. On the left are other ridges
and other peaks, which we shall presently see to better advan-

to bring in stores

tage.

Nothmg
*

Au

can be more suave than this view on a

artificial

water-course, here called

"llego."
+ NotlMoiite VWeo, Anglict)
(.Icrivation i.s
Moiitem Video

the

— "I
:

mlgar
see

a

fine

clear

African

uamc,

iiiouut."

t Here oallcu
" Senzallas."

liy

the

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

194

morning
Avill

but those

;

who

first

descend

it

in a

[chap. xx.

Monte Video

—

fog,

a Black

shudder at the portal of a Brazilian Staffordshire,
The angle of the road is that of a roof, and set in the

Country.
red clay

niuddy

is

a dark slatey patch of finely pulverized or treacly-

argile,

looks from afar like

whicli

colouring matter

is

iron pyrites, the clay

is

useful for

and in Europe the mineral
to serve

Bed

many

The

a vast pall.

a trifiing portion of cubical and unauriferous

is

plmnbago -coloured pigments,
to yield sulphmic acid, and

made

technological purposes.

ridge and black ridge might both be avoided by running,

a road for 1'25 miles

down

the river-bed, below

Santa Bita

bridge, and then by hugging the Bibeirao do Morro Yellio.* The
latter is the main drain, the natural zigzag, and the best approach
to the great mine, which certainly deserves a carriage road in-

stead of the present mule path.

A deep hollow lane, with the rocky remnants of an antiquated
ramp, a few huts, the little Bomfim chapel, and the large house
We rumbled over
of a charcoal contractor, lead into the town.
the Bibeirao bridge, and thence Ave clattered over the slippery
kidney stones, with their black capping of iron, that pave the
sleepy little old settlement.
It rarely opens its eyes before 8
A.M., when a few hundred yards beyond it, hundreds of men are
working night and day those citizens who were awake were
:

probabl}' but

half awake,

thej'"

looked very cross, and not a

slouched hat was fingered.

"N^

S''

do Pilar de Congonhas de Sahara"

—here names

are

long, apparently in direct inverse ratio of the importance of the

named

place or person

—though very drowsy,

is

tolerably neat,

and wears a kind of well-to -do -in-the -world look. The main
square has some two-storied and ornamented houses, and the
village dignitaries have taken the trouble to prop up that necessary of Brazilian town-life, t the theatre, decrepit though only
fifteen years old.
The Matriz, repaired by the late Fr. Francisco de Coriolano, shows a three-windowed facade, and a crosscrested pediment the belfries have Swiss roofs, pig-tailed at the
corners, and turned up after the mode of Chinese Macao
pos;

;

"*
Formerly tlio lliljcirSo dc Congonhas,
vhich flowing from west to cast has been
diverted to work and drain the English

mine.

t

I believe

Uiinl of ilic population of England, has us
166.
It will be time to
theatres

many
o\vu,

that the Brazil, with about a

—

abuse them when we have improved our

TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO VELHO.

CHAP. XX.]

sibly

it

is

195

an unconscious deiivation from the image dearly

beloved by the heathenry of
ing door there

is

Pomeco and

a quaint

At

Tlascalla.

the rail-

quaintly painted with the

screen,

Passion-events, whilst the ambulatory has fom'teen station-crosses
nailed to the walls.

Commerce flomishes

in twenty shops, including a laboratorio

and sundr}' pharmacies. The Inner Brazil, like the Western
United States, and very unlike the Bananas* of the coast, still
requires the dinner pill of our grandfathers and Dr. Ivitchener's
"peristaltic persuaders."
sjurit

May

not tl^s

j)artly

account for the

so tenax propositi, with which both nations have

waged

wars for years, when we wax weary of fighting and j'earn for

"home
parts

" after a few

is

months' campaign? The apothecary in these
never a poor apothecary.
200Z. worth of bad drugs

brings liim 2000/., and keeps liim for

who can be dosed

gratis

life

;

strange to say,

men

by the Company, prefer the "botica"

—

and quingenties.
Congonhas has been cured of the "decadence et abandon" in
which St. Hilau'e found it forty-seven years ago. Built by mming,
it fell with mining, and by mining it has been "resurrected."
In 1830 it lodged 1390 souls in 1840 about 2000, with three
churches, one an unfinished ruin in 1847 (Sr. Pinto) 913, of
course Morro Yellio not included in 1864, 6 electors, 211 voters,
;

;

;

and 4000,

allo^^dng

1000 miners.

has certamly not fallen

From

Since that time the number

off.

compulsed by an ugly
stony climb, impudently rismg straight in front, and cutting
over the ridge that separates the basin of Congonhas and Morro
Velho. By the partially paved road there was a neat store and
the square

we

tiu'ned to the

the Hotel Congonhense,

speaking

German employe

of introductoiy letters

upon

his art.

;

left,

where M. Gehrcke, an old Englishof the Compan}', receives the destitute

here also an Italian portrait-painter lives

High above us

to the right is the Rosario

Church,

though it is no fete. The dark towerless front of the
mouldering fane frowns in stone like a bit of bastion an un"
finished croAvn of Portugal and a bald place for the " Quinas
beneath, tell their own tale. The nave and the high altar glare with
whitewash, the ornamentation is pauper and gaudy negro taste.

filled

;

—

* The Cockneys of Rio tie Jaueiio arc so called l^y the hardy
extensive use of aloes in the interior is noticed by the " System."

Paulista.s.

2

The

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

196

[chap. xx.

Lower to the right is the store of Messrs. Alexander and Sons,
who brew their own "yel," called " Inkermann," which rapadura
sugar makes a trifle more capitous than the pawkiest of Scotch
barley braes, and which has rolled over many a stout fellow
Beer, which ancient Egypt,

neatly as could a Kussian gun.

although she had no pale

ale,

preferred to

sensibly

the vine,

should be heavily backed in Minas against spirits, especially
Cachaca. Mr. Henry D. Cocking, of the Smiths' Department,

brews

at

home

he must, however, import his hops.

;

To judge

Sao Paulo, here

also
by the success of the Germans
is
Alexander's
Messrs.
Opposite
the fine tonic would flourish.
make
mmers
the large ranch of INIello and Co., where the black
further on lies the old hospital, with its garden
theii- purchases
now occupied by the mining captain Andrew, and by Sr.
Antonio Marcos da Rocha, once a servant of the Grongo Soco
establishment, now "Ranger of Woods and Forests " at Morro
The road is protected by tree-trunks laid obliquely
Yellio.
across it, and faced up with clay to serve as watercourses this
is a common contrivance in the Highlands of the Brazil, and on
some lines, especially in Sao Paulo, horses must step over a bole

in western

;

;

with ever}' second pace.

Here the near view becomes passing

pretty.

The descent

runs through an avenue of Coqueii'o palms, whose drupes, large
On either
as a score of grape bunches, hang about theii' necks.
side is a

meadow

of " Angola grass " (Capim d'Angola,

Panicum

guineense), each rich green leaf eight inches long, by one and a
half broad

;

it is

planted by joint-cuttings of the cane-like cuhn,

and in the season
succulent fodder.
diphtheria.
is

it

supplies per

Unhappil}^ this

week three tons of sweet and
fair site is

the very centre of

Above the meadow, and crowning

a red yellow hill,

the Rev. Mr. Armstrong's parsonage, white and neat as his

neck-tie.

The wonderfully

thin lancet windows, and

a

cross

ultra-Rumic, distinguish the chapel amongst the scattered villas

and rows of houses.
To the right, on the near bank of the Ribeirao, heaps and
banks of grey ore and crushed stone denote the "Praia AVorks."*
A little tramway, 800 yards long, piercing tlie hillocks and
crossing a pair of bridges, with one heavy filling and cuttings to
* I shall rctui'n to these

" Praia Works

"

iii

Chapter 26.

"

TO THE GOLD

CHAP. XX.]

tlie

extent of 788

ISIINE

OF MORRO VELHO.

fathoms, connects them

cubic

197

head-

with

and conveys from the spaling floors " i:)oor stuff"* to
he worked shoukl an accident close the upper mines. Here also
"launders"! or flumes with great fleet or inclination, bring
down slimes and i-e fuse -tailings. The machinery which re-treats
them consists of two wheels, and stam^js housed under a long tiled
quarters,

shed.

Ascending a dwarf

hill

— our

last,

pass a neat Anglo-Indian bungalow,

let

us be thankfid

Smyth, superintendent of the Negro department.
Ribeirao gully are the brown tents

side of the

" Mingu diggings," pj-ritiferous like the main lode.
are the large

new Hospital and

!

—we

occupied by Mr. James

On

the other

denoting the

Further on

the medical quarters, where lodge

Doctors M'Intyre and Weir.
" Tranquillity House " has the prettiest of prospects
but
lovelier, ah! far lovelier, are the charms of "Galashiels," savs
Dr. Weir, who with filial reverence hangs to his wall a print of
;

the uncouth

Scotch village.

Chapel, literally
crosses

in

the

crosses

all
air,

— even

Still
;

further on

is

outl3'ing crosses,

the windows

are

the

Morro Velho

;

"

To

crosses.

primitive Christian what a scandal this would have been
of the valley is the "

Catholic

inlying crosses,

!

the

North

a dark red scaur in its

southern slope shows where the Brazilian owners hit their

first

and where sundry huts were buried by a land-slip. The
tall black cross was put up by Mr. Gordon, to ease the burden
of his people
formerly, on days ordered by the priest, they
pilgrimaged over three rough miles, to the apex of the Curral
d'El-Rei.
The " Old Mount" gives a beautiful panorama, but
gold,

;

in the " dirty

bush"

the

King

of the Carrap^tos holds his court,

and he wiU hold it till ejected by Bahama grass, or some similar
immigrant vegetation.
Leaving to the left, on an eminence, the big white store of
the Companj^ presided over by Messrs. George Morgan and
]Matthew, we find the " Casa Grande," which must not be confounded with the " Casas Grandes " of the Gila A^'alley. Here
tiled, painted with official
built to receive
verandah
yellow, vine-grown, and fronted by a
it is

the Sui)erintendent's quarters, red

" Mina Pobre.
+ Native miners
*

call

the launders "Mcanie," from "Inca," a spout.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

198

[chap. xx.

His Imperial Majesty. To the west, and facing at right angles,
the Sobrado, which acts " Guesten House," and where,
although intending that our visit should last a week, we shall
presently pass, on and off, a pleasant month of busy idleness,
is

This hospitable adjunct is
found in all the old-fashioned establishments of the Brazil, and
in the country towns, even now, a man Avill not take a tenement

the ''best of

all

earthly blessings."

which wants the detached quarters where fiiends and strangers
can be entertained.

The

scene strikes

my

unfamiliar

e^ye

as a mixture of Brazilian

and Neilgherry Ootacamund
English in the neat cottages, fronted by

Petropohs

the dark slatey stream

;

;

there

is

something
and

railed flower-beds,

with a savour of Switzerland in the

and the meshes of yellow pathways on both sides of
But can we be within earshot of the Great
the Piibeirao Gorge.
Mine ? AVhere are the familiar features, the poisonous smoke,
the vegetation " fuliginously green ? " AU around us are dottings of varied verdure, here a row of gigantic aloes, like the
Socotrine, whose gold-green bands gain for them in the Brazil
There we see a cedar, sole
the title of " Independence Shrub."
survivor of its ancient and noble race, proving that this valley
was covered at one time, like the rest of the country, with virgin
forest.
The splendid snow-white trumpets of the Datm-a, popularly called Fig-tree of Hell,* depend from masses of verdure
high clear

aii*,

twelve feet high

;

the fatal use of the seed, so

where a caste of professional poisoners
here belongs to negroes.

common

The Melastomacese,

in India,

" Dhaturiyah,"

is called

of various species,

the Flor de
from a mere bush to a tall tree
Quaresma, or Lenten flower (Lasiandi-a mutabilis) t is beautiful in bloom of white, pink, and dark lilac, and the mauvecoloured bracts of the Brazilian Bougam\allea, here of unusual
stature, are set off by the wild Fuchsia, brilliant with bloom
of the richest scarlet, whilst the humbler growths of homely
varj^ in

.

England

size

act

:

foil

to

the

gorgeousness and the sjolendour of

the Tropics.
* Figixeira
Tliis
and
do lufcnio."
" trombelleira" (trumpet-tree), are the
general names for all varieties of the Datura Estramonio, or Stramonium.
The

common

arbust

is

the Bi-ugmansia Candida.

prohahly been introduced from Hindostan into Minas.
t The bark of this tree is used as a black
It lias

dye.

CHAP.

We
and

TO THE GOLD MINE OF MORRO VELHO.

x\-.]

so,

199

have been riding four hours, we are hungry as hunters,
with another glance of admiration at externals, we bid an

revo'ir to

our good "master of the horse" and

all his

mules,

we

enter the hospitable house, and after the warmest of receptions,

we suggest

breakfast,

which does not keep us waiting.

—

;

CHAPTER

"

XXI.

XOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.
" Quand la population sera plus considerable, et que les BresUiens sauront exploiter
leurs mines d'une maniere reguliere, on en tirera des avantages qu'on ne prociirerait
pas aujourd'hui sans faire d'imraenses sacrifices." EscJuvege, Pluto, Bras. 7H.

Sectiox

I.

GOLD.

Brazill\n travellers of the pre-Californian epoch, St. Hilaii'e*
and Walsh for mstance, firmly believing that Dives must ever
go to the Devil, were fond of exalting, a la Fenelon, those sill_y
pseiulo-virtues,the golden mean. Frugality, Simplicity, Content, La
Pauvrete, sa mission dans I'eglise, and so forth. They moralised,
like St. Paul and Pliny, ad Vihitum upon the evils which gold does
to mankind, and especially upon the evils which gold-digging has
done to Minas and other places, by scratching up a vast extent of
country, and by diverting industry from more profitable and
Thej' adopted the sentimental view of the

enduring pursuits.

Mammon

metal.

looked upon the trodden gold of Heaven's
their " gold alone does passion

They remembered

pavement.

move;"

still

their "auri sacra fames," the

"am'um

ii-repertum," "etsic

melius situm," the '*auri sanies," and "bane for the
* " Gold mines discovered by audacious
and enterprising men, swarms of adventurers settling upon riches announced with
all the exaggeration of hope and desire
a
society formed in the midst of every crime,
reduced into a semblance of order by milltary law, and softened l\v the burning sun
and the effeminate indolence of the climate
some moments of splendour and prodigality
a melancholy decadence and ruins
;

;

—such
of

is

Goyaz

almost

briefly the history of the Province
;

all

Hil. III.

i.

such

is the course of events in
gold-bearing countries."
(St.

308

—

Sentimentalisni

9).
is ^jcr se

irrefutalile

;

it

is

to

human

race;

common

to physics.

sense what metaiiliysics are
But the amiable author forgot

that Goyaz, a tyi)e

of

the inner Brazil,

would have remained a luxuriant waste
tenanted by cannibal "Indians "had not
its mines attracted colonists.
He ignored
the fact that the labours of these men have
laid the foundations for a vast superstructure of iirogTess, by taming the ferocity of
Nature, and by liberating posterity from
Thus
the thraldom of mere animal wants.
in our day desert California has become
under the gold-digger's hands the great
wine-gi'owing country of the West.

—
fiiAP. XX}.]

NOTES OX

OLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

whilst they forgot that the precious ore

and wine.

like timber, corn,

is

a mere matter of traffic

The}' probably expected

when

201

men

to

grew guineas
they perhaps wished the peasant to throw
in diamonds and gold
back, on philanthropic principles, his gold and diamonds into the
stream that yielded them. They instanced the decay of mining
cities and villages, as though ruin were the result of disturbing
cultivate the miserable potato

their grounds

:

the bowels of the earth
the_y call it

who assume

—" a

dispensation of Providence," as

the pleasures and duties of directing the

Even the civilized Castelnau laments
course of " Providence."
the " hochets de la vanite humaine," which prizes the diamond,
ignoring the fact that

it is

a

mere coin of higher

value, an un-

burnable bank-note.

Far wiser

in their generation

considered the miner, like the

They

State's twin-pillars.

mushroom mineral

were the Brazilian writers, who
tiller

justly

of the ground, one of the

attributed the

decay of the

settlements to ignorance of physical science,
political system.
They
when " deep mining " will leave
but they also knew that land is here a

and to the Avorkings of a destructive
looked forward to the

more land

daj^s

for agriculture,

drug, and that mining soils are, as a rule, not worth cultivating.

And

they dismissed objections against mines of diamonds and

gold as readily as

if

they had been levelled against mines of coal,

copper, or lead.

These chapters will show, I trust, that the exploitation of gold
and diamonds has but just commenced in Minas Geraes, and indeed
in all the Brazil.

INIartim Alfonso de Souza, after touching at

Pernambuco, Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro, cast anchor on August
12, 1531, off the island of
Isle of Shelter.

known

Cananea, now called Ilha do Abrigo

There he found a certain Francisco de Chaves,

as the "Bacharel,"

who

is

said to have lived thirty years

upon the seaboard, and who truly informed him that gold
abounded in the near interior.
The great voyager sent on
September 1 of the same year a party of eighty men, commanded by Pedro Lobo. This, the first Bandeira,* was destroyed
* " Bandeira " is primarily
a flag,
secondarily a troop under a flag
the word
gained a wide significance in Sao Paulo,
;

which, between 1550 and 175(), sent forth
thuse redoubtaljle Comandos which explored
and conquered the interior. Southey(i. 43)
has left a sadly garbled account of the first

" Martini AtTonso made an
Bandeira.
unsuccessful expedition southward into the
interior-, in search of mines, from which
he returned with the loss of eighty Europeans. "
The great captain, who seems
never to have failed, sailed from Cananea
on Sept. 2t], 15.31, explored the Rio da

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

202

b}'

the barbarous Carijos and Tupj's

the savages, and thus

tlie

of the precious ore.

;

[chap. xxt.

a second set out to punish

extraction speedily followed the discovery

Yet

it

may

be truly said, that during these

three centuries and a quarter, nothing has been done compared

with what remains to be done.
In California, we are told by
Mr. J. W. Tajdor, that " notwithstanding the skilful application
of hydraulic power and other improved machiner}', the production
of gold by placer-mining* has diminished from sixty millions of
dollars in 1853 to twenty millions in 186G."

In most parts of

Australia also, the sm-fxce -washings are exhausted, and the pick

and pan men must make wa}" for companies with machinery and
means. The Brazil has still many an undiscovered
" placer," but her great wealth lies deeply buried under ground.

large

The gold-diggings of Minas Geraes, and especially those of
Morro Velho, correct a popular scientific error. I remember
how, a few years ago, a distinguished President of the Geological
Societies used to show the gold formation with the wrist upturned
and the fingers downwards, other metals being supposed to be
above and

much

Dr.

deposited in the inverse way,

little

Couto's generalization

I believe, based on insufficient data,

when he supports

is also,

his favourite

Lehmann's

l^elief,

+

below.t

that the sun is

the principal agent in the alchemy of gold, by asserting that mines
lie on the eastern slopes of mountains, rarely on other
" rhumbs." On the other hand, here, as in Cornwall, the
tendency to an east to west dii'ection of metalliferous veins has
been remarked.
It is popularly explained by the '' generally

here

westerly direction of voltaic currents, connected with the general

meridional direction of the magnetic needle."
the auriferous mountain chams are mostly
(xxxvii. 15) is right in asserting that the

In the Brazil also
meridional.

diamond,

hedral " adamas " be not corundmn, but a true

mostly found in close proximity with gold.
and did not return northwards till
January, 1532.
In the Discoiu-s prelimi-

Plata,

prefixed by M. J. B.
B. Eyi-ies
" Jean Mawe," we read (p. xvi. ) "Ce
fut en 1577 que Ton trouva les premieres
mines de ce m^tal." The popular error is
that gold was first found in Jaragua, a moun-

naire
to

tain within sight of S. Paulo the city.
* ' ' Grold ledges are not more liable than
ordinary metalliferous veins to become impoverished in depth. " (Mr. J. A. Phillips,

if

diamond,

And we may

" The Mining and Metallurgy

—

Plin}-

his hexa-

of

is

remarlc
Gold and

The
quote from a review).
same error, it appears, prevailed touching
the stanniferous deposits of Coi-nwall.
+ Art des Mines (i. 11). The theory in
the Brazil was that the soft yellow clay was
gradiaally dried, ripened, and "aurified."
Silver,"

I

faults and dislocations which inand upheave metalliferous veins, and

t The
tersect

which consequently are posterior in date,
often intersect them at right angles.

—

NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

PTTAP. XXI,]

that,

in

part

this

accompanied
diamonds.

The

—

l)y

of the

some form

Brazil

at

The same

of iron.

may he

gold deposits of Minas Geraes

formations,

These are

all

gold

least,

203

invariahly

is

ma.y he said of

divided into three

the produce of primitive and metamorphic rocks,*

:

1.

Quartz or Cascalho gold;f

2.

Jacutinga; and
formations.

3. Pyritic

me

All the specimens of quartz-gold shown to

at once sug-

gested California and the Guinea Coast, and the works which I

saw on the Sao Francisco Pdver were of the rudest description.
Brazihans divide it into three kinds. The first is Ouro do Rio
it is either loose or embedded in
or da Corrego, *' stream ore"
:

pebbles,

galettes,

and kidneys

of

quartz, sandstone, granite,

gneiss, " Itacolimiite," talcose-schist, or the conglomerate called

Canga.t

This gold, being deposited

* The auriferous
Pacific coast

quartz veins on tlie
have proved that the deposits

ore are not confined to the Silurian
epoch, as contended by Sir Roderick Murchison, but are also extended into the
I found no fossils which
Jurassic period.
could mark the date of the Minas rocks.
"
Casc&Iho," or " Pedra de Cascalho,"
+
wlien large " Cascalhao," is a coarse gravel
composed of many varieties of quartz, and
supposed to be the matrix of gold and
diamonds.
I may suggest that it is tlie
Spanish Segullo, the Segutilum of Pliny
the dictionaries, however, usually derive it
fi'om " quassus " and " calcidus, " making
synonymoiis with " pedregulho, " or
it
gi'avel.
It is always rounded and waterrolled, opposed to the angular gurgulho
Some
of which I shall presently speak.
writers use the word, perhaps correctly,
Cascalho he comwith gi-eat latitude.
pacto de fragmentos angulosos de quartzo
e mineral de ferro argiloso, a que os
mineiros chamao jicdra de Cawja " (Jose
So
Bonifacio, Viagem Mineralogica, p. 9).
Southey (iii. 53) explains "Cascalho" to
the
ore
in
which
gravelly
soil
be
hard
was embedded," and in another place
(ii. 669) a "compo.st of earthy matter and
Both definitions are equally ingravel."
The " Cascalho " may rest either
eoiTect.
upon the stone core which underlies the
Neptunian fonnation, or upon the common
of

:

"0

'

'

^

For the latter the reader

at different

epochs by " rain

or upon the loose
"Desmonte."^ There are
minor divisions of "Cascalho" as "Cas-

country,

the

clays

of

sand

called

calho de Taboleiro," found on river banks
and high lands this is either rounded or
"
The " Cascalho do veio do rio
angular.
comes from the stream bed, and is always
:

'

Cascalho corAgain the
that which is much worked by
water, opposed to the "Cascalho Virgem"
when it is pudding-stone shape.
t The word must not be confounded
with the Portuguese " Canga," a yoke. It
water-rolled.

rido "

'

is

evidently a mutilation of " Acanga," in
thus we find the names of
places "Caia-Canga," monkey's head, and
"Tapanhu 'acanga," nigger's head, from
" Tapanh(ina " (vulgar corruption), a negro
John Mawe (ii. 24) erroneor negress.
is

Tupy a head

;

ously writes this

" Conga

" Tapinhoa-Canga," and

nom de quartz ferrugihave seen Jose Bonifacio give
it to angular quartz fragments in argillaIt is a general term for any
ceous iron.
stone with an iron capping, and therefore
called "Pedra de Capote" (cloaked stone)
Dr. Couto declares that it
in Sao Paulo.
has often been applied to what is really
says

neux."

est le

We

ochraceous copper.
Wo find in Pliny (xxxiii. 21) an allusion
" gold
to these upper formations, the
that is thus found in the surface crust is
"
knowTi to the Romans as ' talutium.'

may

see Ynl. 2, Chapter S.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

204

and

[(

hap. xxi.

extended from the surface to twelve and even twenty
below it. As a rule, liOAvever, it was soon exhausted.
The
second formation was known as " Ouro de Gupitira," gold of the
livers,"

feet

term very variouslv explained.*

Here the ore was mixed
with the superficial clay, generally red, rarely black it was easily
extracted and soon.
The third kind of gold was termed " Ouro

roof, a

;

de Pedreiro," gold in stone, and was supposed to be supplied by
veins of quartz ramifying through rock.
This, therefore,
was the only true mine all the others were mere washings.
In the Jacutinga, as in the quartz, the gold is visible and often

little

;

free.

But the precious

disseminated in the
metal.

This

is

p3"ritic

ore is so minutely and mechanically

formations, that

the natm-e of the

it

seems to be another

Morro Velho mine, and

this for

ages to come will be the auriferous stone quarried in the Brazil.

My

account of

in arsenical

it

will be

somewhat

and other pyrites

is,

tedious.

difficulty of separating the precious ore is

mite of information has

its

Deep gold-digging

however, so interesting, and the

The

value.

so great, that every

description

of the

minerals will be mainly taken from the "Annual Assay Report
for 1861," an able article bj'M. Ferdinand Dietzsch, the principal

Reduction Officer of the Morro Velho Company.

The auriferous ore delivered by this mine is composed of
magnetic iron and arsenical pyrites, in a containmg rock of
quartz.

and

4*0.

The specific gravity of the lode ranges between 3*8
The composing minerals may be quoted in the following

succession with respect to their metallic properties and relative
It must be borne in mind that the formations pass into
one another almost imperceptibl.y.

value.

* I believe tins

word to lie a corruption
Tupy " Copiara, explaiued hy the
Diet, as " alpendre, varanda, a shed or
awning (verandah):" the people on the Sao
of the

Francisco River

supported by

still

jjosts

use

and

it

for a tiled roof

without

walls.

Jose Bonifacio (yiagem 8) writes Guapiara
(in which he is followed by Castelnan) and
translates it " cascalho superficial," which
follows conformably the irregularities of
the ground.
St. Hilaire (I. i. 247) has
rightly asserted, "on designe ce cascalho
par le mot de gupiara, a cause de la res-

semblance qu'oflrent la forme et la position
de sa couche avec les v^ritables gupiaras,
petits toits triangulaires qui s'avancent audessus du pignon des maisons,"
he had

—

have said attached to the wall of
In Gardner we find
the dwelling-house.
"copiara " corrupted to "copial," a vebut that good naturali.st and
randah
observant traveller gave little attention to
Burnieister prefers
Grajiilanguages.
ara," a common corruijtion in many parts
Mr. Harry Emanuel
of the country.
" Grupiara " as "an
(p. 56) explains
alluvial deposit whose surface shows it to
be the xinused bed of a stream or river,"
whereas it alhxdes to the eaves-like side
of a hill.
I observe that that excellent
scholar, Sr. J. de Alencar (in Iraeema,
p. 100, and other works) writes "Copiar,"
and Moraes (Diccionario da Lingua Portugueza), "Gopiai-a.
Ijetter

;

'

'

—

NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GEKAES.

CHAP. XXX.]

or niispickel* does not form a large pro-

iVi'seiiical p}T.-ites

1.

205

portion of the mineral, but

the principal gold-bearer.

it is

Some

specimens have yielded when assayed from twenty to forty oitavast
per ton. More generally it is mixed with the magnetic pyritiferous matter,

when

and from

in assay,

sihery-white

it

gives from sixteen to twenty oitavas of gold

seventeen in reduction.

five to

specks and dots, with a specific gravity

lustre, finely diffused in

when pure

The

of 6'20.

It is the usual

shining with metallic

steel-coloured mineral,

or

Brazilian miner calls

word explained by Dr. Couto

to

mean

it

" antimonio," a

copper-pyrites, with iron and

sulphur, cubical or hexahedral, well crystallized and coloured like

The country people declare " that there is much fii'e
when joined Avith other bodies, to

pale gold.

It is evidently subject,

in it."

combustion, as slioAvn

making

old experiment of

b}' tlie

artificial

volcanoes by burying in the earth a paste composed of iron-filings

and sulphur, kneaded together with

Common

2.

Avater.

(Fe Su-), Marcasite

pyrites

(Martial)

iron

or

more abundant than No. 1, but it is far inferior in
Almost pure specimens, with a sHght admixauriferous yield.

Mundic,!

is

ture of quartz, give eleven oitavas per ton, the yellow stone of the

" West Quebra Panella

Mine" gives
embedded

of the larger crystals are

even

A

less.

only

six,

and when the grams

in quartz, the per-centage is

superabundance of iron pyrites is almost as
as a preponderance of the quartz leaven.

antagonistic to gold

* According to Berzclius (FeSvariously stated,

Iron
Arsenic

Sulphur

+ The

+ Fe

As"), or ^Fc S-

+ Fe

As).

The

proiiortioas are

e.'j.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

2g

gi-aius

=:

5

=

8

vintens
vintens
oitavas

8
2

ounces
marcos

=
=

.

.

.

old Portuguese gold weights,

32

.

1
1
1
1

36-04
42-88
21-08

36-00
42-90
21-10

100-00

100-00

preserved, are,
\antem.
tostilo or tustao.
oitava (
1 Jg drachm avoirdupois).
on9a or ounce.
still

=

—

1 niarco.

=

1 lb.

The popular gold -weight is the oitava
and 104 oitava.s = 1 lb. Troy.

=

the eighth

pai-t of

8-6742 of our ounce Trov,

I cannot understand w hy the English Mining Companies in the Brazil persist in sending
iu large accounts calculated by oitav;i.s instead of ounces and pounds.
What can be more
ridiculous than such figures as 8 oitava.s (
1 oz.), 16 oitava.s, and so forth ?

=

The oitava
IVEorro

27 $
%.

with the quality of gold and the rate of exchange.
That of
Velho, averaging 19 carats, is now (July, 1867) = 3 | 454, and the ounce is
of course varies

63-2.

Comishmcn have

in Cornwall."

This

is

stated

true of

that "luundic rides a good hor.se iu the Brazil as
many minerals, but not, I believe, of gold.

well as

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

206

A

working miner compared the

its

manm-e.

It is

latter to the soil, the

also to

liable

[cuap. xxi.

former to

spontaneous combustion

Avlien

The mineral has the
decomposed by contact Avitli moisture.
noi'mal metallic lustre and brassy 3'ellow colour, it is found in
minute dots of well diffused metal, in cubes and in crystallized
masses, each face half an inch and more in breadth. Although
it readily tarnishes, the ignorant often mistake it for gold, and it
is

Sao Francisco
Minas and Sao Paulo. My dis-

scattered in large deposits about the valley of the

Biver, and in the Provinces of

tinguished friends, the

Commendador Jose

Yergueii'o of Ybicaba,

and the Deputy Antonio de Souza Prado D. C. L. of Sao Paulo,
showed me specimens of it. The former fomid them upon his
estate near Rio Claro, the proposed terminus of the Santos
and Jundiahy Railway, and the latter brought them from the
Cavern of Paranapanema, about eightj?^ direct miles Avest-southwest of Sao Paulo the city.
8. Magnetic ii'on pyrites* or proto- sulphur et of iron, forms
the largest yield of pyritic matter, but in assay

shoAvs small

it

gold contents, rarely exceeding 1*50 to 2 oitavas per ton.

hexagonal

occurs in the usual

massive and of
4.

The

fine

crystals,

brassy lustre.

quartz matrix

Avliite

or greyish, sometimes

Pure and

AA'ithout pyrites, it Avas

mostly

is

smok}^, blue-black, and black.

formerly supposed never to contain gold

some say
Avitli

it

but of

;

late six pieces,

divided into six, have been found

tAVo or three pieces

the precious ore

mixed

It

sometimes

foliated,

embedded

in them.

Quartz

is

generally

highest am-iferous qualities, and Avlien

Avith pyrites of the

forms the staple, as in the West Bahia and the Champion
AA'hole body yields a fair* average.
It AA'as soon

grounds, the

remarked that the ore often appears poor
pyritiferous matter produces as

much

in pyrites, but that the

as 3'66 oitavas per ton.

In places the quartz is invaded by "capel," hard, AA'hite, and
poor quartzose matter, gTeatly distorting the contiguous containing rock, and presenting in ca\ities magnetic iron pj-rites,
spathose

and

ii'on,

* Tlic forimila

io

crystallized copper pyrites.

(Fc Su-

+

6 Fc Su) or (Fc* Su^

+

ii

Pc Su)

vary, e.y.

Sulphur
Iron

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

36-5
63 "5

40-4
5D'G

lUO-00

100.00

:

tiic pioportioufj

—
LiiAi-.

5.

—

.

XXI.]

Cliiy

NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.
slate, sonietiines

207

(micaceous), mostly talcose

cliloritic

and silicic acid), called by the English miner " Idllas."
It is amorphous or laminated, generally of dull leaden colour,
and exceedmgiy hard it traverses the containing rock in places
and protrudes into the lode, "teeth" or small branches, "horses"
Much of it has
or large masses, and " bars" or di\ddiiig walls.
no amiferous pyrites, and even the highly charged parts rarely
afford more than two to three oitavas of gold in assay, or one
The yield is
half to three-quarters of an oitava at the works.
pronounced bad when the killas and quartz exceed the pyrites,
middling when they are nearly equal, and good when the pjTites
(niaguesia

;

This clay slate is separated as much as is possible
excess.*
from the ore before the latter is forwarded to the stamps, and
thus the whole body of mmeral is brought up to a liigher
standard than the bullv received from the mine. As the subjoined
is in

show,t the large quantities of valueless stuff cause
great delay in the " spalling floors;" and "killas" stamped
together with rich stone, occasions a heavy loss in fine free gold.
figures

The

"s^ill

gold daily treated in the Eeduction works

The

an intimate mixture of these minerals.

is

derived from

rarer formations

are

Calcareous spar, commonly called " pearl spar."

This system

of carbonate of lune is found in modified rhombohedra, hard but
cleavable,

usually white and crystalline,

but sometimes of a

delicate pink, with the appearance of marble.

of

it

adhering to the lode in

* Sometimes, however,

the

I saw a specimen

its transition to Idllas.

not contain more than

oro does

I'ichost

fifty

per cent,

of pyrites.

the dry weather, pay the

t About 300 tons of stuff, more in the wet
400 tons give a fair profit.
daily expenses of the mine
During the six months, March to August, 1866, we have the following computation
53,698 tons.
.
.
.
.
The mineral raised from the mine, a total of
.
.season, less in

:

:

.......
...

During the previous six months
During the six months ending August, 1S05
The killas rejected at head-quarters,
but re-treated at the Praia Works ^ 22,383
amounted to
J
During the previous six months
17,10S
During the six months ending August, ),,,,^-'^
'
1865
i
The average jield of gold per ton raised w;is
During the previous six months
Duiing the six months ending August, 1865
The average yield of gold per ton stamped wa-:
During tlie previous six JHoiiths
During the six months ending August, 1S65

.

46,029
40,014

.

,,
,,

"1

.

.

.

tons, or

40 per cent, on quantity

raised,

•

36'G
„„

,,

.

"

,,

"'^

,....,.
....

.......
...
.

.

.

.

.

.

5 "974 oitavas.
6 '328
,,

4 '885

11 "048
9 "988

6 '458

,,
,,

,,

,,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

208

Spathic ironstone, or carbonate of

ii'on.

[chap. xxi.

It apj^ears in obtuse

rhombohecb-a, with faces often curvilinear.

Some

pieces, of a

and resemble fisli scales.
found in large lumps of a copperas-green colour

dirty yellow coloiu", stand erect,

Chlorite

is

;

sometimes stains with a pretty, light glaucous tinge the
adjacent rock-crystal.
In Morro Velho it contains iron pyrites,
but no gold
this, however, is not the case throughout the
Province of Minas.
Arragonite, in white vesicular crystals.
Curious specimens
are shown with magnetic iron pyrites adhering to the sm'face.
Traces of copper, crystalhzed and am()r})hous, have been
found in the lode and the containing rock, but they have not
been examined.
Silver in Minas, as elsewhere, is the general alio}' of gold.*
The mine which the Jesuits ancientl}^ worked near Sorocaba
was, some say, this "electrum;" others believe it to have been
galena highly argentiferous.
The ore of ]\Iorro Velho contains
silver in chemical combmation with other substances, and it is
not extracted on the spot. A report once prevailed that silver
it

;

The

attained the proportion of 16'50 per cent, of the lode.

bar,

or ingot, contains 19^ to 20 per cent, of silver.

Section

II.

THE BRAZILIAN MINING SYSTEM.
Portugal, the western
to the present day the

termmus of Rome's conquests, remains
most Roman of Latin countries. Her

language ai)proaclies nearest to the speech of the ancient mistress of the world.

Her

people

still

jjerseverance, often degenerating into

bulent love of liberty

;

preserve the stvu-diness and

dogged obstuiacy

;

the tur-

the materialism and unartistic spirit

;

the

conservatism and love of routine the superstition and the lust
of " territorial aggrandisement," which distinguished the former
;

conquerors of the world.

Even

in the present day, the traveller

in Portugal sees with astonishment the domestic

poetry and hterature, her arts and sciences

form of
* "In

:

life

of

Rome, her

and the archaic

has extended even to the Brazil

gold ore there is some silver,
proportions
a tenth part in
instances,
an eighth in otlier«."
all

in vaiying

home

civilization

;

;

here,

Pliuy aomew hat overstates the universality,
Init he errs only in degi-ee.

XOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

LUA1-. x.vi.]

although so far removed from
a variety of jarring elements,

The admirable

its

it is

2U9

ethnic centre and mixed with
easily recognized.

old naturalist, Pliny, telling us

The

how "

gold

is

by washing
is by
and
sinking shafts or seeking it among the debris of mountains
the third method of obtaining gold ("which surpasses the labours
of the giants even") is by the aid of galleries driven to a long
found," describes three dilierent ways.

the sand of running waters for stream ore

first is

;

the second

;

The

distance.

show how

will

folloAving sketch of gold-mining in the Brazil

little

the

Roman

system has been changed since

A.D. 50.

The fii'st exploitation was by simply pamiing the auriferous
sand taken from the stream-beds, and this we shall see practised
to

the present

The next method was
The humus was stripped

day.

the "lavra," or

off with the hoe,
"
cascalho " (gravel and
and the red-gold clay, or the auriferous

superficial w^ashing.

The
sand) was cut into squares and lines b}' shallow trenches.
washers alwaj's chose an inclined plane, and a head stream was
conducted to the cuttings by split bamboos or hollow trees.
This simple " hydraulicking " carried down the free channel

—the

gold

canaliciimi, or canaliense of Pliny

by grass sods or blankets
" coche," or trough

;

—which was arrested

these were afterwards washed in a

the dust was then panned in a gamella,
A slight
carumbe,* and this eiuled the simple process.
improvement in these " stream works " was made by the
*'
canoa," an oblong of bricks, tiles, or rough planldng, which
;

or

facilitated the

industry

washing of the " pay-dirt."

still

prevails

;

it

In the Far West this

disappears with the exhaustion of

those superficial deposits of gold which more or less have existed
in every

known

coimtr}- of early formation.

The

effect of

such

washing was to leave the land a " caput mortuum of stubborn
sterility " which can only be cured by manurmg,t an operation
beyond the means of the actual Brazil. Other wild "washing"
* The "Gamella" useil in golJ-wasliing
larger thau the " batea " (explaiiicii in
Chap. 12), flat, round, ami lacking the
The " Cahollow i)oint in the centre.
mmbe," or " Carumbeia," is a .small

is

gamella.

According to

"Indian" term

St.

Hil.

it

i.s

the

for the "ecaille de tortuc."

In the country parts the doi-sal armour of
the aiTuadillo is still used ;vs a pouch or
calaba.sh.

t

It Ls .suiJ that

eveu iu these Lrick-likc

ami sugar, at any rate manioc
and maize, can be grown in holes filled
The
with a mixture of earth and manure.
pits arc dug at inten'als of .six feet, they
are one foot in diameter and about the
same depth. I have not had an opporsoils coffee

tuuity of seeing a gold field thu.s treated,

—

THE HIGHLANDS OV THE BRAZIL.

210

contrivances will

be

noticed in the

[chap. xxi.

following pages, as

they

present themselves on the river and the road.

The "cata,"

or pit, has ah-eady been alluded to; from these

holes gold in grain and nuggets

—was

—the

pelagte

and palacurnas of

extracted, after which the ground was supposed to
"worked
out.
This sj^stem, lilce the " lavra," was peculiarly
be
Plin}'

work of the " Garimpeiro,"* the contrabandist and free
lance.
The first improvement which required more hands, and
especially slave-labour, w'as the open cut called " tallio aberto,"
or Socavao.
Some of these works, the " Carapucuhu " at
Jaragua, for instance, near Sao Paulo, are extensive
but sufficient slope was not given to the banks, shoring up was not
judged necessary, and the sides being Avell undermined, fell in.
Thus a few negroes were crushed; their "almas," or ghosts
much dreaded in the Brazil haunted the spot, and soon hunted
away the stoutest hearts.
The most enterprising tried the " Serrilho," which we transthe

;

—

" shaft ;"

late

t

it w-as,

how'ever, generally an inclined plane, a

mixture of shaft and gallery.
with charges half powder,

The

precious metal was attacked

half sawdust

the

;

slaves

bore in

buckets or wooden platters auriferous matter to a water-mill,
working, perhajjs, a pair of iron-shod stamps upon a hard,
stone.

The

flat

operations were carried on under a shed, alwaj'S

placed for better surveillance near the owner's house.
AVlien the
" batea " and " gamella " had done their work, a rude amalgam

was sometimes tried, as in early California, and the loose mercury was recovered b}' squeezing through leather.
They retorted
it by placing the amalgam in a heated brass vessel, covered with

The latter, when parched, Avere removed Avitli the
sublimated globules on the inner surface.
But the Brazilian

green leaves.

^ Sometimes

written
as pronounced,
is the S])anish "Gamfamiliar liy M. Gustave
Aimard and Captain Mayne Eeid.
The
" Garimpo " is the place where he works,
the word is still applied depreciatingly to
any digging on a small scale.
Garimpeiro
corresponds with our "night jossecker,"
men who employ tlie hours of darkne-ss in
robbing rich holes of superficial gold.

" Grimpeiro "
bnsino," made
:

it

According to the Dictionaries, which ignore
"Gai-impo," " Garimpeiro " is a Brazilian
word Moraes suggests that it is a coiTup:

tion of Aripeirn,

from Aripar, to

collect

i>eails wliich

have fallen from decayed piles

of oystcrH into the sand,
" is liere used of wells or pits
f " Shaft

open

whether pei-pendicular
"whin-shaft" raises the ore
"
to the surface
sinkings " are downward
excavations, " levels " when horizontal, or
nearly so, and "risings," those that ascend,
The "a<lit," or "adit-level," is the chief
to the surface,

or not, the

:

drainage tunnel cut to the surface at the
" levels " genelowest co7ivenient spot
rally are horizontal galleries excavated in
metalliferous veins,
and "cross-cuts'"
those in non-metalliferous.
:

NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

CHAP. XXI. J

2il

miner was ever careless about timbering and walling lie little
regarded lighting or ventilation the Davy and the Geordie were
equalh' unknown to him ; he ignored pumping on a large scale,
and thus, when his mine became Avatered, he was compelled to
;

;

Rude, however, as was his system, we shall see that it
all the best English miners of the present
day, and that the latter have been satisfied with a few and
unimportant improvements.
quit

it.

has been adopted by

Section III.

ENGLISH GOLD-MINING IN MINAS.

The
as the

The

first

English Company dates from 1824, and was known
Soco, or " Imperial BraziHan Mining Association."

Gongo

we

diggings, which

19° 58'

and

30'',

W.

shall

presently pass, were in S.

lat.

long. 43° 30',* about forty-eight miles north-

west of Ouro Preto, and twenty-four miles south-east of INIorro

measurements by the Austrian mining
von Helmreichen, place it 3360 feet " above
the sea at Eio de Janeiro."
Gongo Soco was in the then municipality of Caethe
now in that of Santa Barbara.
The first owner was a Coronel Manoel da Camara de Noronha,
who dug about the middle of the last century.f His son Isidoro, who died in poverty, sold it about 1808 for 9000 crusados
to the Commendador and Capitao Mor Jose Alves da Cunha, a
Velho.

Barometric

engineer,

M.

Virgil

;

Portuguese, and to his nephew by marriage, the Barao de Catas

The former, about 1818, pushed levels into the true
on the flanks of the " Tejuco Mount;" and it is said that
The
l)efore 1824 he extracted in one month 480 lbs. of gold.
Baron inherited the property, bought out bj" private arrangement
Altas.

lode,

who had claims upon it, and offered
Edward Oxenford, who had travelled

others

all

]Mr.

it

for sale.

in the Brazil as a

Mascate, or itinerant merchant, returned to England, advocated
the purchase, and was sent by the Association to examine the
site,
*

m

comi)any with Mr. 'I'regoning, as chief mining captain.

The observations

wei'o taken

liv

Hen wood,

Jory

yU:

F.R.S., F.(t.S.
Chief Commissioner of the Gold Mines of
WilliaTii

Gongo

Soco,

scientific

,

Cata Preta,

man

is

still,

I

et«.,

et<'.

believe,

:

this

living.

His papers were printed in the Phil. Mag.
1846,

xxviii.,

pp.

3(54

—

6,

and

in

Ldiidon, Edin., and Dul). Phil.

Mag. and

Journal of Science, June, 1848.
f I\Ir. "Walsh is in error when he a.?Rerts
that a Portuguese named Tdtturcourt, and
father of Isidoro, first worked the banks of
the (iongo Kiver,

the

p 2

"

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

212

The

reports were favourable.

[chap. xxl.

The Baron parted with

his rights

and the sanction of the
Imperial Government was obtained on Sept. 16, 1824, on condition of receiving the annual " quinto,"
curiously high,

for

^670,000

(others

say

^£80,000),

—

This was close upon

twenty-five per cent, of gold extracted.

the " all-speculating year, 1825," when one of 999 speculations
was the " Potosi, La Paz, and Peruvian INIining Association."

How

little

belle

entreprise,"

creditably to national

the

reader

honour ended that " grande

may

see

in

the

lively

et

pages of

Mr. Edmond Temple.*
In 1825 Gongo Soco was visited by Caldcleugh, who could
not enter the mine, the owner being absent. In March, 1827,
This
the first superintendent, CVqitain Lyon, took command.
is Lieutenant Lyon, P.N.,f who travelled to the Fezzan, where
Mr. Pitchie, chief of the mission, died of anxiet}- and bilious
fever, on Nov. 20, 1819.
He also bought the Morro Velho
ground from its owner, Padre Freitas, and sold it to the " S. John
Del Pey " Company. The speculation prospered. In December,
1827, the quint paid at Ouro Preto was i£20,982.
Gongo Soco
had become an English village in the tropics, with its church
and chaplain consecrated by the Bishop of London, and the
forty original hands had increased to 180 Englishmen, assisted
by 600 free labourers and blacks. I Mr. Walsh, who visited the
place in 1828, draws a pleasant picture, and the ground is said
to have already produced 736 lbs. of gold.
In 1830 Captain Lyon was succeeded by Colonel Skerrett, who,
by judicious military discijiline, kept the mine in " apple-pie
order " he introduced the excellent system of making the
;

negroes their own " feitors,"
left

or

overseers.

the Company, as often happens, showed
pound foolish, and thus lost a valuable

and

Colonel

Skerrett

because his salary was not increased from i^2000 to £3000

fall

itself

penny wise and

servant.

The

decline

of the establishment at once began.

* "Travels in Tarious Parts of Peru,
including a Year's Residence iu Potosi," liy
Edmond Temple, Knight of the Koyal and
Distinguished Order of Charles 111.
In
2 Vols.
Colburn and Bentley, 1S30.
The
nai-rative makes one blush for the Potosi

t During the first year, when the greatest
depth was three fathoms, the employes,
including forty Englishmen, numhered 450.
The highest number was 217 Europeans,
200 Brazilians, and 500 slaves. When the
mine was " broken " there were 14 Euro-

&c. IMining Association.
Dr. Gardner calls him the
^ t

peans and 447 slaves.

Yo'ager,

" Korthem

NOTES ON GOLD-MIXING IN MINAS GERAES.

CHAP. XXI.]

After Colonel Skerrett
1840-2.

About

describes

it

this time

213

Mr. George Vincent Duval, in
was visited by Dr. Gardner, who

c-iiue
it

as a thick stratum of ferruginous Itacolumite, with

an inclination of 45°, and based upon clay slate, containing great
masses of ironstone. Upon the Itacolumite lies a bed of aurififty fathoms thick, and upon this again is
About half a mile to the south of the mine he
found a couch of crystallized and highly stratified limestone,
cropping out at the same angle and in the same direction as the

ferous Jacutinga,

Itacolumite.

He

other rocks.
b}'

visited seven of the nine levels, each separated

of 378 feet.
These
through the soft Jacutinga, were four to five
to six feet high
they were strongl}- lined with

seven fathoms, and thus he saw 294

galleries, pierced

feet wide

and

five

;

eighteen-inch timbers of the hardest Brazilian wood,
logs were broken and crushed by the weight.
east to west

;

there were, however,

many

The

the

yet

chief vein ran

shoots or ramifications

—

which gave gold in bunches as much as 100 lbs. had been taken
out in one day.
The rich ore was washed and pounded in
mortars.
It was concentrated at fu'st by common panning,
afterwards b}^ amalgamation
the poorer stuff was sent to the
stamping-mills, and then washed.
Dr. Gardner found the
;

machmery here inferior to that
But now appeared the truth

of Cocaes.

of the Miner's axiom, " Better a
low standard and high produce, than a high standard and low

produce."
rally

From 1837

reduced

its

to

1847 the Brazilian Government

quinto to twenty

per

cent.

libe-

Jacutinga

is

"weather-cock mine;" unlike those whose matrix
is the rock, it may be rich to-daj', and worthless to-morrow.
The deep running lines could not be followed, and the expense
essential!}' a

posts and stanchions, walling every foot, was enormous.
Mr. Henwood then assumed command, and was followed by a
committee consisting of Mr. John Morgan (senior), Dr. Hood,
and others. This republican rule ended the matter, and reads
In 1850 the Government compassionately
a valuable lesson.
of

its claims to ten per cent.; in 1853 to five per cent.;
and in 1854 foreigners were placed on the same footing as
The large working
national industry, and laboured untaxed.
became insufficient, and
capital
too large, indeed, at first
between 1854-6 the Company expended the whole of a reserve
fund which had accumulated for years. The water entered the

diminished

—

—

;

— —

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

214

[chap. xxi.

was sopj^ed to the foundations, and the workmen were
In
drowned out, the fault of nobody but of the drainage.
1S57 the Commendador Francisco de Paula Santos, to whom
150 contos were owed b}' the propert}^ embargoed the negroes,
as he had a right to do by Brazilian law, and presently
became owner of the mming property. Gongo Soco died deeply
it had spread itself into the branch -mines of Boa
regretted
Quente, Socorro, Campestre, Catas
"\"ista, Bananal or Agua
it had fed and fee'd the
Altas, Cata Preta, and Inficionado
country for thii'ty leagues aromid, and it had netted nearly

liiatrix

—

;

;

£1,500,000.*

FoUowed (AprU, 1830)

the " S' John Del Key," of whose

was transferred to
Morro Velho, whilst still preserving the name which appeared
The misnomer sounds like
in the Company's original contract.
the " Exeter Mine at Triu'o." I retaui, however, the complicated l:)arbarism, which distmguishes it fi'om another Sao Joao
mine, merely remarldng that such hybrid words should be
banished from all our maps. For ten years after its removal
the " S^ John " did little, and often that little was in the wrong
In 1845 its royalty was lowered from ten to five per
direction.
in 1855 a reduction of one per cent, per annum was made
cent.
and after 1859 it was reheved of
till the extinction of the tax
Dming that year it began to yield five oitavas per
the onus.
the reader will presently see
ton, where before it had given two
the reason why.
In due succession came up the " Cata Branca" (1832-3), with
the municipality of Ouro Preto
the
the Morro das Almas,
great Cocaes Company (1833-4), f in Santa Barbara, including
its branches Cuiaba, Caethe, and Macahiibas, ^\ith its neighbour,
Brucutu and the short-lived Serra da Candonga Company, in
the Serro do Frio, which ended after two to three years.
origin I have given an account.

In 1835

it

;

;

;

m

;

;

* Tlie figures usually given show a national
pressed

benefit

of

some £333,180, thus ex-

:

Paid royalty to the treasury £310,777 }
^^t. Moraes,> £338,180).
>
export duty
22,403 ]
,,
According to Lt. Aloraes this Company extracted 34,528,098 lbs. of gold (20 -car at
thus laid out
Expenses
£1,013,253
Income
1,388,416
.

.

.

:

Profit

+ Gardner,

Cliap. 13.

I

have given some details in Chap. 41.

£375,163

—
NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GEEAES.

niAP, XXI.]

215

Except Cocaes, -wliicli still lingers on, these associutions lasted
The failures atlected the London market,
till 1844-5 and 1850.
and gold-mining in the Brazil was not looked upon with favour.
Here, as elsewhere in South America, the vast treasures promised by Montesquieu, Robertson, and Humboldt, were not
realised, or rather were realised to a certain extent, and—
diverted.
Convey the wise it call.
After 1859, when Morro Velho had "rehabilitated" speculation
in the Brazil,
which bore blame when she deserved every praise,
Minas had five the " Este Del
other Companies cropped up.
Rey," including the Lavras do Capao and the Papafarinha, near
Sahara,* and the Paciencia and S. Vicente, near Ouro Preto the
Norte Del Rey, in the Morro de Santa Anna, including the
Maquine Mine;t the London and Brazilian Gold-Mining Company (Limited), at Passagem, near Marianna t the " Rossa
Grande Company," in the municipality of Caetlie,| and the
Santa Barbara-cum-Pari, | in the municipality of that name.
There is a sixth the " Montes Aureos Gold-Mining Company
(Limited)," establishment in Maranhao but I see that it is ah'eady

—

:

;

;

—

;

in the

market.

The

estabhshments

of these

capital

total

is

down at 5£600,000. Only two, the Morro Velho and
the Passagem Mine has
the Maquine mines, have as j^et paid
usually set

;

not paid, but jirobably will pay, and the rest have been failures
a dozen and a-half losses to two and

a-lialf successes.

In the Brazil a gold mine may begin work economically
enough.
The owners of diggings which are supposed to be
exhausted wiU generally sell cheap, and many would be contented
with a

fair

per-centage on profits.

for pm'chasing stock

and

rolling

putting up one set of stamps,

durmg

— say

The sum
stock,

of i'4G,000 suffices

and for
which work,
through grates of
building,

for

thiily-six head,

the twelve hours, fifteen tons of ore,

a sufficiently fine bore.

Assuming the average

yield of gold at

the
five oitavas per ton, this Avould produce annually iilO,000
thii'd
year,
when
mine might be put in proper stope within the
This easy effort of prudence would test
it should begin to pay.
;

its

aptitude

shareholders,

for

so

good or
often

evil,

without seriously damaging the

victimised

under the

present reckless

system, and without gi^ing to the country an undeserved bad
reputation in the markets of Europe.
« (Jha].. 41.

t Chap.

:J4.

t

C\u\>. 20.

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

216

After reading a variety of reports,* I
actual

way of "getting up

" an English

am

[chap. xxi.

able to describe the

Gold-mining Company,

Limited

A

(as to profits), in this section of the Brazilian California.
" chief commissioner," quasi self-created, one of the " Twenty-

years-in-the-country-and-speak-the-language

men,"

by

begins

laying before the British public

a

be derived by the actionnaircs.

His experience must

synopsis of advantages to

following flattering tale in seven chapters.

My

tell

suppose from this Demoeritic treatment of the subject that I
not in earnest.

the

readers need not

am

"En

So was old Rabelais when he wrote,

ycelle bien cultre gouste trouuerez et doctrine i^lw^ absconce

;

and no one laments more than I do the dishonoiu" which such
cliaiiatanism has brought upon the EngUsli name in the Brazil,
to mention no other parts of South America.
1. The mme to be is situated in a good central district, close
the " astu " here is a
to the capital and to other great cities
mere village in Europe.
If not so placed by Nature, it can
easily be made so by the simple process of subtracting distance.
2. The pasture, the supply of timber and fuel, and especially
the water, are abundant and of the best quahty.
3. The ore, the lay of the lode, and the formation and the

—

mineral characteristics generally, are similar to those of " St.
It may be well to invent some such highsounding and well-known names as " West Del Bey" or " South
Del Bej^," upon the same principle which till late years called
all coal " Wall's End."
If invidious comparisons are required,

John Del Bey."

an allusion maj'' be made to the failures of Gongo Soco, Cocaes,
and Cuiaba.
4. The original Brazilian owner made a large fortune before
Anything,
the works fell in, and the miners were drowned out.
however, can be " done by an English Compan}- and Cornish
mmers."
5. The lode is from ten to thirteen feet wide at grass
it is
at as shallow an horizon as possible, situated above some valle}',
so that the facility of draining b}' adits and openings is "of no
;

common
6.

order."

The dwelling-houses

* I can especially

are in a very dilapidated state, neces-

commend the Report
John Del Eey Mining Company,
(Tokenhouse Yard, now presented half-

of the St.

yearly at the meeting of the Proprietors)
the system is excellent, and it gives at a
glance all the information required.
:

—
NOTES ON COLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

CHAP. XXI.]

Casa Grande

sitating (luam i^t'lmuni a

217

Mr. Commissioner, and

for

similar outla}'.
7.

This splendid

mining operations mnst prove imme-

field for

diately remunerative to shareholders ; it is an " aftair of facts
and figures "
an " investment rather than a speculation."

—

Finally, if the pretensions are to be of the highest order, there

must be diamonds and other deposits of which the reporter
" abstains from speaking."

Thus

Company

the

will

be formed

money

;

will

be spent,

nothing will be made, and, in due time, dissolution will be the
denouement.

Emi)hatic<illy true in

Spanish proverb
"

Nothing

is

A

modern Minas Geraes

is

mine brings misery, a gold mine ruin."

silver

easier than to suggest a ready

for this undesirable

state of affairs.

The

induction and deduction of reason and

and

efficient

remedy

simplest exercise of

experience shows the

necessity of obtaining accurate knowledge before entering

There ought not

such speculations.
finding

a

the

:

confidential

man

to

versed

sufficiently

upon

be any difficulty in
in

mming and

mineralogy, and, to speak plam English, above taking the bribes

His report should be
of local traders and
shopkeepers,
all,
of course, merchants and esquires
who,
expecting to profit by the outlay, volunteer golden opinions

Avhicli will
final,

assuredh' be off^ered to him.

without any regard to the small

—

touching the new

fr}^

—

mme.

It is said that the

Englishman going

science at the Cape, and forgot to take

to India, left his con-

it

up on his return.

I

know not where Europeans deposit these troublesome articles
when bound for the Brazil, or whether they care to recover them
when en route homewards. It is, however, a melancholy truth that,
seems to be the smallest item of the

in this country, honesty

adventurer's stock-in-trade. In the mines, as in the railways of the
Brazil, the fault, the cause of failure, lies, I repeat, not with the

Brazilians, but at our door.

management both

at

been preferred to public

in certain notorious cases a system of

;

plunder has been organized

through the market

;

There has been the grossest misabroad.
Private interests have

home and
;

impossible schemes have been floated

the merest speculators have Avaxed rich

economy has been wholly

neglected, and

;

money has been buried

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

218

as though
is

it

Mse

the

Europe that the seed of

be sown profitably in the Brazil, when there

husbanded,

jjroperly

The Morro

Vellio

it

[chap. xxi.

The most lamentable

were expected to grow.
conviction in

BEAZIL.

is

result

capital cannot

no country where,

would bear a better crop.

Mine has opened

a

new chapter

in provincial

under adverse circumstances, much
may be effected b}" men of honesty and energy, combined with
scientific and practical knowledge of their profession
and I
may end this sketch by expressmg my conviction that we have
well-nigh killed the goose that lay the golden eggs, and that
history, proving that, even

;

until the present process shall be radically changed,

better

it is

to leave the gold in the bowels of the earth.

On

the other hand, I have something to say about the attitude

of the Brazil in
*'

What

educated.

tliis

matter.

does the mine pay to the State?" ask the well" These strangers carry all the gold out of our land,"

who would see unmoved a shanty surmounting
a gold moimtain. Lt. Moraes* speaks of seven English companies, " exploitant an profit de I'Angieterre les richesses incalsay the vulgar,

culables que la Nature a enfouies dans le sol bresilien."

He

Morro "N^elho Mine should
have em-iched the Treasmy by "pres un milhon de francs."
But in its highly liberal jiolicy the Brazilian Government was
emphatically right.
The educated and the vulgar, wdio look only
to monies actually paid, and who fancy that enormous indirect
calculates that between 1860-3 the

benefits

mean nothmg,

are

as

emphatically wrong.

Had

the

Imperial impost not been removed from the Morro Velho and
other establishments these must have been ruined.
Those in
power happily had the com'age to assist their " Do ut des," in
opposition to the " dog-in-the-manger " polic}', which is that of
all half-civilised

peoples.

" Brazileirismo " in the Brazil, and Americanismo in the
Hispano-American repubUcs, are never so rampant as when
boasting of their country, a vanity even vainer than that of
vaunting one's birth. The " torrao abencoado " (Heaven-blest
soil)

has past into the category of

* Rapport

sur le Haut SanParent, 1866).
This
officer calculates that between 1860
1863
(four years), the Morro Velho Mine should
have paid into the Brazilian Treasury one

Francisco

partiel

(Paris,

—

chaff.

The

sun, the

moon,

million of francs (400 contos or ^40,000).

And

he would have thrown

it all

away on

a fanciful canal between the Eio Preto and
the Parnagua Lake, in order to imitate the

Hudson-Chaniplain.

CHAP. XXI.]

NOTES ON GOLD-MINING IN MINAS GERAES.

219

"You have no
the stars, are subjects of popular braggadocio.
such moon as that in France," I heard a Brazilian say to a
Frenchman.
" No," was the reply
" we have a poor old night-hght, wellnigh worn out but it is still good enough for us."
Hence there is prodigiously *'tall talk" concerning the magnificent Empire, the wondrous Land of the Southern Cross, A\ath
Whatever the latter
its mighty wealth and its splendid destiny.
may be, the riches are still in the ground, and the nation is
:

;

undoubtedly poor.

The

capitalist will not, it is a truism to say,

liazard

money

home

and the many risks

;

would make as much at
which he is exposed must raise

in a far country, Avhen
to

it

his per-centage of profits.

I conclude, therefore, that

if

the Brazilian

Government

listen

bad adviser, the General Voice, it will not deserve better
foi-tune than what has befallen English minmg and English
to that

railways in the Brazil.

As

yet,

however,

let

me

repeat, the

has displayed exceptional sagacity.

Government

in question

—

CHAPTER

XXII.

LIFE AT MORRO VELHO.
"

scheme or planning a seaAway from the care
and bustle of business, under the soothing sounds of the sermon, I have
nothing to disturb my meditations." Frank Dodge, quoted in " The Model
Preacher" hj the Bei: H, Taylor.

The

best time I can get for maturing a commercial

voyage,

My

is

at church, while the preacher

is

preaching.

notes taken at the Queen of the Minas Geraes Mines will

They show what is English
and they supply some details ahout

not, I hope, prove uninteresting.
life

in the heart of the Brazil,

a place

The

worth studying.
pretty site of the estabhshment

is

an irregularly shaped

about three-quarters of a mile long by half a mile in

basin,

breadth.

The narrow

—
an
—formed by high ground,

valley ends westward in

Voltaire forbids us to call

it

a

de sac

ciil

inqjasse

and the sui-rounding hills rise 700 to 900 feet above the llibeirao.
This stream, winding eastward, rolls a furious torrent dm-ing
the rainy season, and in the dry half year the shallow water,
thick with mundic and arsenical sUme, must have a deleterious
The land around has been all disforested, and the vegeeffect.
much of the humus has been
tation is a mean second growth
drained off by the Eio das Velhas, and the often fine soil has
been much impoverished. The romantic beauty of shape is still
there, and on bright days the sun and air make the colouring a
;

pleasure to look upon.

To

the north-west rises the

to say,

the place

first

Morro Velho, or Old

Hill, that is

worked, backed by the majestic Curral

d'El-Rei, bearing 270° from the Casa Grande.

To

the north-

west of the modern shafts are the first excavations made by the
" antigos," and which duly fill in. About one mile east, and

beyond the " Mingii Mount,"

is

the "

Morro Novo."

The

latter

has a quartzose vein, bearing "south 60° east;" it was held to
be poor, but it may still work well. Indeed, in most parts there

;

LIFE AT MOIIRO VELHO.

CHAP, xxii.]

is

gold stone at a shallow liorizoii

repay exploitation ?

221

but the question

;

is,

will it

Situated in a contracted, overcrowded space,

the nucleus of the works

is

on the western slope of the valley

here are the huge water-wheels

;

the long, dark sheds covering

spalling floors strewed with grey ore

;

engine-houses, and small

Avhitewashed kiosk-shaped buildings, where the brakesmen

sit

and control the hauling speed with hand gear. But there is no
iron furnace blowing oft' sooty smoke by day and belching lurid
flames by night
the trees are not poisoned, and the lips do not
taste of chemicals.
The bustle and the rattle of the stamps
is no unpleasant sound b}' day, and in the dark hours the song
of the water-Avheels reminded me of the autumnal waves sporting
and tumbling upon the Scheveringen shore.
The buildings extend from the northern bank of the Ribeirao
up the ridge-spur, to an altitude of about 450 feet here are the
highest negro quarters, " Timbuctoo"
gentle reminder of what
may have been motherland, and here live the Cata Branca
MidAvay up are the various grim entrances to the big
blacks.
mine, and below it spread the appurtenances, smith}-, si)allmg
floors, and minmg oftice.
This side of the stream is of somewhat
easier slope than the other.
A conspicuous whitewashed build;

:

—

mg

is

the blacks' kitchen

;

the eastern part

is

assigned to the

Padre Petragiia. High up, and safely' placed, is the gunpowder
house, and near it the cemetery where three Europeans were
buried during our stay of one month. A little bridge (Amalgamation House Bridge) crosses to the southern bank, where the
a rocky ramp rises to the stables
Amalgamation House is
higher up, and at 60 to 65 feet of greater elevation is the " Casa
Grande." The hill that backs the latter is occupied by the
Company's store,* and beyond it, scattered over a mile or so,
The medical
are the quarters occupied by most of the officers.
men, the assistant storekeeper, the Catholic chaplain, and the
captain in charge of the mine, lodge on the northern bank.
As a rule, the houses are comfortable, with broad verandahs,
;

But the

and similar tropical appurtenances.
M'holesome

;

in front, the tall

Morro

the west, and the high ranges to

impede

circulation.

*

The

Pi-opcrly called tlic "

situation is un-

"impasse" to
the north and south, must
Vellio, the

low-lying locality has a climate the
Aimazcin

"

— popularly the

" Venda,"

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

•222

reverse of what a climate here should he

:

[chap. xxii.

the sun burns by day,

the nights bring sudden chilliness, and, as the sojourners in the

Highlands of the Brazil complain, the four seasons of Europe
come and go in twenty-four hours. The head-quarters and the
officers' bungalows might easil}' be removed to higher ground
for instance, to the level a little above the Company's store. Many
would doubtless declare that the place is too far from their work,
but I hold this to be an advantage. All ovra that during the
first months of residence they took regular exercise, and were in
;

Presently the Tropics asserted themselves

the best of health.

;

the daily ride or walk became a bore, the northerners became

" caseiros"
is liver.

— stay-at-homes— and the end

Much moral

a path

constitutional over
familiar to the eye

courage

;

of inertia in the Brazil

is requii'ed for

the daily solitary

whose every plant and pebble are

but the alternative

may

inevitable "liver," loss of energy, loss of

be thus laid doAvn

memory,

loss of neiwe,

and even loss of life. Equally difficult is the
change of iilixce which I vainly proposed at Sierra Leone and
Bathurst.
In those pest-houses man is content to be " left

loss of health,

He

loathes the idea of change, as the queer passenger does fat bacon, or the elderly Enghshman a " new view of
the subject ;" to propose am- alteration is personally offensive to

alone" to die.

him, and he duly hates the meddler who does

it.

Morro Yelho is sub-troi)ically situated in S. lat. 19° 58' 6"'7,
and the approximate longitude is W. 43° 51' (Gr.).* The altitude is that of Sao Paulo, the city, a little over 2000 feet. Its
dry season begins, according to the rule of the Southern HemiDuring this period
sphere, in April, and ends with October.
the thermometer ranges between 61° and 72° F., and the air
contains from 0"811 to I'OOO of moisture (Mason's hyg.).

"Water

seldom colder than 39° F. Hoar-frost, however, appears on
boardings and on the gTass. Droughts would burn up the fields
but for the dense morning fog, often thickening into a drizzle,
which chills the body. The mist disappears first from the lov.er
Then comes a gresit
levels, lighted by the sun of 9 to 10 A.M.f
is

''

The latitude was taken with a

reflect-

ing circle by Sr. Henrique Dumont, C.E.
Dr. Walker with an Adie's sjTnpiesometer
made the altitude 2300 feet Mr. Gordon
2832, and another oliservation with the sympiesometer (air reading 68% liquor in tube
59°, and attached thcnnomcter 72°), gave
:

3411 feet.
I made the
" Guesteii House " 2233

flonr of tlie
feet (B. P. 208°,

fir.st

temp. 63'').
+ In Dr. Walker's Sanitary Report of

1850 we read that

thei?e

"cover

mists

even the summits of the heights. "
tins not to be the case.

I

believe

—

t

iiAi'.

xxii.]

MOERO VELHO.

LIFE AT

sudden change of tenipeniturc.

<iii(l

223

Dr. Birt, whose acquaintfirst two

ance I made en passant at Bahia, found during the

years of his service that the difference in the shade amounted to
20° to 23° F. Dr. Walker's observations give during four months
and a -half a minimum of 46°, and a maximum of 80°.*

There are usually midsummer showers, called the Rains of St.
The first fire-fly api)ears about the end of July, and the
last in early jMay.
August has a few heavy downfalls. In early
September the peasant begins to bm-n his fields, the large South
American swallow + appears, and the Sabia (Turdus Orpheus,
Lin.), the koldla of the Golden Land, not, hoAvever, an " American robin," ushers in the wet season ^^ith song. " About the
same time," says Mr. Henwood, then of Gongo Soco, " the
humming-bird ceases its low, monotonous cliaunt, which during
the cold season may be heard from every low, sheltered bush in
the open ground (campos) between Gongo and Catas Altas."
Thunderstorms, here called " trovoadas," + sometimes accompanied by heavy falls of hail, usher in the tropical rains, which
John.

November. As usual in the Brazil,
For ten years the average was
68'28 inches; the smallest remembered was 51'57 in 1863; the
average between 1864-6 was 63'00.§
About the end of Januar}', or in early February, is a fairit is called
weather interval, Hke our St. Martin's summer
set in with a will about early

the discharge greatly varies.

;

" Yeranhico,"

the

little

summer

verao, or

or three weeks the rains cease, and there
I travelled throuo]! the ]*rovince of

is

during a fortnight
cloudless sunshine.

Sao Paulo during the " Indian

Max. 80° Adie's

For March

:

27 "OO
28*22
28-17
28-40
28'56

—
—
—
—
—

28-40 inches.
28-59
,,
28-60
,,
,,
.,
28-66
,,
,,
,,
28-75
,,
,,
,,
The sun is in aphelion, July 2ml the coldest so;uson in these Highlands of the
Blanc
at
Jlagdala
lis
of
Dr.
in
the results obtained by
Pirazil.
This temperature reminds
^

,,

68°
68°
72°
70°

S\'mii.

,,"

—

Abyssinia.

The
It is also known by its Tupy name, Tapera or Majoi.
must not be confounded with Tapera, which the T. D. translates Aldeia Yellii,
or Sitio Abandonado, and remarks that according to Pison it also means the
" Andorinha," which it docs not.
X These trovoadas must not be confounded with the African "tornado," our
cnrrui)ted word applied to a very different meteor.
§ The following arc llie figures for three yeai-s

+ The "Andorinha."

foi-mer

:

In 1864
,,

,,

1865
1866

,,

=
=

,,

=

fall

61-98 inches.
61 -98
,,
65-14
,,

"

THE HIGHLANDS

224

THE BRAZIL.

Oi^

[chai'.

xxu.

summer" of 1867 overhead all was delightful under foot eveiythmg was detestable.
The only pretty part of the Casa Grande is the outside. Its
;

;

compound,

terreiro, or

a flat space laid out with

is

walks and with attempts at turf

— an

good gravel

The

Angio-tropieal lawn.

edge of this grassy bank fronting north, and looking down upon
the rivulet

valle}', is

brilliant Poinsettia.

adorned with oranges, limes, and the everEastward are earth-banks, once a heap of

Behind

rubbish, noAV bright with coffee and bananas.
gorge, Avith

its irrigating

stream,

is

the garden.

in a deej)

The upper

part

shows foreign trees and flowers, which here suffer from two
plagues. The "plantation ant," which the old Portuguese called
the king of the Brazil, is a perfect " liberal," which here means a
" know-nothing." It injures the produce of the country, but it
" eats up " the stranger. The mistletoe-like " Herva de Passarmlio,"*

more

Avith its

yellow-red bunches, resembling currants,

fatal to trees.

The main climber from

is

the root embraces

the trunk, and puts forth tendrils which i^enetrate the bark and
It is hard to kill
if cut across it renews
and the seed is often deijosited upon the upper
branches, especially by the "Bemtivi."f
The kitchen garden, under Mr. Fitzpatrick, who is handy at
all things, from killing a sheep to culling a bouquet, gives excellent salads and cabbages.
The radishes are rather tough and
woody, the potato does not thrive. For nine years Morro "S^elho
has had a horticultural society, Avitli the requisite president,
committee, and treasurer it meets in the first weeks of February
and August, and useful articles are then given as prizes. Mrs.
Gordon, who has lived in Jamaica, has introduced the " cassareep," and her " pejiper-pot " equals any curry, and far excels
"palm-oil choji." Brazilians mostly throw away the juice of the
poisonous manioc, of which so many uses may be made. Every
old book has a chapter " wherein is declared how terrible is the
water of Mandioca," and never fails to tell you that it produces
this
large grubs with which the good Avives of the Indians, and

suck the life-blood.

itself,

they

;

sa}-,

;

is

insinuated sotto rocc

husbands.

— even

—

Avhite

Avomen, have eased

off their

Yet, curious to say, the savages kneAv hoAv to evapo-

* " Tlic lierb of the small bird.
f This amusing little wretch (Lanius
pitangua), whose noisy cry expresses, "I

you well," or " Wek-oiiic " is luentioned hy every Brazilian traveller. Prince
Max. (i. 63) also gives the name Tectivi.
,saw

!

—

0II.V1-.

LIFE AT

xxu.]

MOUKO VELHO.

rate the volatile acrid principle

;

225

they concentrated the juice

-with

the C'runiari cumbari, or Cumari, the Capsicum friitescens, a wild
" bird pepper," and they made Cassareep,* which they called
" Ticui)i," or " Tucupe." t
This "tempero," a sauce to be coni'

pared with soy,

known,

is still

I

am

told, to the

backwoodsmen

of the Northern Brazil.

The Casa Grande

of the Padre Antonio
and added to. Caldcleugh (ii. 275)
describing the senior and his nephew, Padre Joaquim, remarks
that the i)adre's wife was very beautiful, with black eyes, and
"nice and fat." 1
The padre, after having the grace to settle
1). Silveria in the neat little Fazenda de Santa Anna, on the
Sahara Road, died at Congonhas, but during Lent he revisits his
earthly home, and freely takes what he wants from the cupboard.
So Pedro, his grey-headed slave, with simple African fetish
faith, places meat upon the table, and often sees the "larva"
]iassing from room to room.
Uncharitable persons have opined
that the good priest has been transferred to a locality where
wallving exercise is not permissible, but tenets will differ upon
is

the old house

Freitas, of course altered

so Aveighty

and obscure a subject.

The Superintendent's
The situation is close

quarters, I repeat, should be changed.
to the stream

— one

of the hottest, the

and the dampest of tenements. The Companj^'s store
was once the Casa Grande it might return to that honour.
Nothing is more injurious to the prosperity of the mme than a
frequent change of commanding officers and the climate, comcoldest,

;

;

bined with the peculiar influences of the place, requires that
^'
The following is the recijie for making "Cassareep," and it is a good action to
make it public
" To 1 gallon of Ijrine from salted beef
adil 2 galls, of (poisonous) manioc juice,
which must be as fresh as possible.
Simmer in earthen pot for six or seven
houi-s.
After the third hour add 1 lb. of
unground black xjcpper corns, 4 1^'- o^
allspice, \ lb. of mace, 4 nutmegs pounded
in mortar, and 2 ounces of cloves.
If not
hot enough add bird peppere whole.
I'ass
:

through a tine sieve, bottle and seal.
"Pepper-pot" is simply meat and vegetal lies

must be simmered every day, whether used or not, and

]iut

into

"Cassareep;"

it

the wa.stage compensated for by adding as
much Cassareep (a wine-glass full or so)
and as many peppers as renuired.
The

vessel should lie a flattish pot of the most
porous clay, which will easily imbibe the
(Japsiciue.

f The Tucuiii is still used in the Amazonian regions where the " Red " l>lood
remains.
I have heard that beasts which
take a long time to chew can with impunity eat manioc, whose poisonous juice
flows out of their mouths,
" fatness, amongst all
J " Bem gorda
the Southern Litin race, including the
Brazilian, being equivalent to fairness,
Possibly the mixture of Moorish blood
who can forget Olappercauses the taste
ton's widow Zuma, the "walking tun-butt ?"
Ugly, old, thin, are the positive, comjjarative and superlative of contempt addressed
to the woman of the Mediterranean,
:

—

—
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

220

every attention be paid to health.

man, keep him

To

is

externally a

of

a vakiable

Superintendency, and half hid by

the " Station Library," as
little

920 volumes, 800

The

Having once got

alive.

the north-east of the

shrubbery,

[chap. xxii.

we should say

octagon, tiled and whitewashed.
for loan,

and the

rest for

in India,

There are

school purposes.

by the Bishop
show some good books of reference
those of local interest, as Spix and

librarian is the chaplain, a clergyman licensed

London.

The

shelves

unfortunately, nearly all

;

and Lyon's Journal, are missing.
They should be
delinquents
fined.
A few paces beyond the
found, and the
Library lead to the Company's offices. Here at 9 a.m. dailj- is
I consider the system worse than
held the officers' conference.
Here, too, on the first Saturday of every
a council of war.
month, jiay is issued to the Brazilian miners and labourers, free
and unfree.
The Europeans receive their money every two
months, the day being appointed by notice.
The only level walk in or about Morro Velho is along the
IMartius,

" Rego de Cristaes," or Crystal Leat.

Pvisking

many

a

tic

—

you ascend the Store Hill, and enter the " Iletiro"
Here whitewashed cotvillage, built upon a well-drained slope.
tages of Brazilian aspect rise, row behind row, each fronted bj'
These are the quarters of tlie English miners
its garden patch.
families.
The rent varies from 0$500 to l$oOO per
and their
Others are i)laced at Mingu, behind the hospital
mensem.
three families (August, 1867) are living near the Praia Gateway,
The Company has built
and some are close to Congonhas.
beyond the Ketii'o village cottages for the Brazilian and Gennan
miners, but the house accommodation generally is poor, and
might be improved with small outlay and great profit.
Entering the gate we strike the Bego, along whose right bank
Mr. Gordon has laid out a neat road. Hei'e in the hot evenings
young Cornwall repairs to bathe. The water rises in the Cabeceiras Hills, nearly four miles distant along its course, from
This part of
near the ridge leading to the Paraopeba* district.
the country is high. The south-western extremity of the " Morro
doulom-eux

das Quintas," alias " do Ramos," rises 1200 to 1300 feet above
* The l'araoi)el)a l{i^cl• ruu.s ou tlic otlici
of the ridge, about eleven leagues
westward of the
Rio das Velhas, and

s^ide

here the lay of the t\vo
iiarallel.

valley.'s is uearlj-

.

LIFE AT

CHAP. XXII.]

MOREO VELHO.

227

the stream, and on the south-east there is a still loftier block,
Formerly the stream discharged through
the " jNIoito do Pii-es."

Congonhas

at a level to

which

it

;

was bought by Captain Lyon, and was taken up

command

the mine.

one of the

It is

many

courses

Undine

collect the Avaters of the adjacent streandets.

thus compelled to turn the huge wheels, to raise the ore, to
it,

and

to deposit

process

is costly,

is

Avasli

through flumes the tailings of the Praia. The
extending over twenty-nine miles, and the tents

are continual!}' suffering from floods, earth-slips, and that riva

miner, " parvula

.

.

.

magni formica

The

laboris."

Cristaes

crosses in launders the Eetiro Ravine, flows in a water-course

round a

hill to

the receiving cistern, and then passes over by one

of the finest Avorks in the establishment, the deep gorge

known

as the " Criminoso."
Inverted iron syphons plunge into the
depths, and deliver 2000 cubic feet per minute about 182 feet

above the Pibeirao, Avhich finally drains

Returning from the

As a

rule,

it

congregation

is

Avalk,

Protestant chapel.

little

tolerably attended in dry weather,

may number 100
sit

on the right

all relish for

side, the

when

the

Tregeagh some-

souls, although

times does complahi that he has lost "
Tlie mechanics

water.*

off the

we pass the

his prayers."

miners on the

I

left.

found the singing to be that of the country church in Great
Britain generally, suggesting the question, why should men who
cannot sing a song, sing psalms and hymns

After not hearing

?

the English Litany for a length of days, we cannot but think of
the dictum of Dr. Newman, the Oratorian, namely, that '' Pro-

testantism

is

the dreariest of possible religions, and that the

thought of the Anglican serA^ce makes man shudder." Surely it
might be altered for the better, but is there any middle term
betAveen the God-like gift of reason or the un-reason of

On
'*

the next

Sunday

I tried the

Rome

Length of Oristae.s inverted pipes from cistern to cistern
Height of framing from surface of water
,

.

.

.

740

.

81

5 inches.
6
,,

feet
,,

Difierence of level on the opposite sides
23 ,, 11
r,
Height of pipes from the lowest part to Iho upper end of ) ,f,^
I^-'J ..
the discharge, about
inches.
First set of pipes have internal diameter of
.
.

.

? t

Padre Francisco Petraglia,

.

>,

•

.

m

.14

.....

12 ,,
.
Second ditto
,,
,,
Thickness of iron in upper part
iJiths of inch.
ith.s
Ditto
lower ,,
,,
,,
This highly civilized aiuc<Iuc'
Pressure on lowest part ahout 4.5 lbs. ))cr sipiarc inch.
was put up by the head mechanic, Jlr. Kouse.
t "The rational form of thought must necessarily be the last of all." M. CoiKiln
Cours de 1828, p. 28.
.

.

.

_

_

U

2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

228

^vllo affects

BP.AZIL.

[chap. xxil.

The chapel

the other side of the Ribeiriio of Boa Vista.

was Ucensed by the Most Eeverend the Bishop of Maiianiia. The
first incumbent was a Portuguese
in August, 1860, he was succeeded by the present, a retired Garibahlian. My wife was much
scandalised to hear that the altar lacked its stone but the church
;

;

has not been consecrated, and there

is

such a thing as " commu-

The ornaments are not rich, the monstrance is
merely a watch-case, with metal rays, and there is some want of
" a vessel with hyssop for the aspersion of the church and to

nier en blanc."

keep the holy Avater." The Padre does not disdain the early
weed, and is much liked by all, except those who resent the

immense sui)eriority of his fireworks over the national article.
Mass was to be celebrated at 10'30 a.m., and we found a small
crowd, mostly black, gathered about the chapel.
zihans rode up

A

few Bra-

had probably sent or walked two or three
miles to catch the horses which they had used for 200 or 300
yards thus far like the old jNlameluke Beys, who would not
cross even a street on foot.
Some delay was caused by collecting
grist for candles, and fur the ecclesiastic mill generally.
A table
loaded with heaped coppers stood inside the western entrance,
frontmg the huge altar. It had been pay-day, and each one, as
he or she went in, knelt, kissed the offered stole, and delivered
his or her mite.
A bald-headed black sacristan directed, from
his cunning e^'es, a probing look at every coin, and with sneer
and leer, and indescribable gibe and jeer, corrected the feAv braves
who would not " lend to the Lord," or who lent too prudently.
The satii'ical Sr. Antonio Marcos declared that in every chapel
;

the}'

—

roof there

is

a hole, througli whicli the drop

*'

percolates into the

priestly j)ocket.

This hardly decorous scene ended, we all entered, the whites
taking station in front, the blacks behind; men standing and
Avomen squatting on the
countr}' i^laces

benches.

bed of

AU

tulips,

stigmas.

:

This old custom

floor.

Sunday

w-ere dressed in

with

tall sable

_

prevails in

The conduct

attu-e

;

the chapel was a

stamens and a few whitey-brown

of the flock was in every

The word used was "I'iugM," wlicuuc
'
derived the veil) iiingar, to take a drop,
oftcn used with Pitar, to touch one's pipe.
The sentiment suggest** the Ba.squc proverb
"On-gosscac guicnn Lat hilic inc« seguin
l.s

still

only the most civilized cities in Brazil afford

way

creditable,

eliya-barncra, eta cstagnoio« hauteeatcra,"
Avarice having slain a man, took sanctuary
in the Church, and since that time has
never left it.

"

f'HAP.

LIFE AT MORKM) VELHO.

xxn.]

229

and tune, and there was more
Perhaps the cause ma}'
be that tlie service is short and the sermon is shorter yet in
matters of homiletics the good ]Mr. Armstrong does not require
a sermon-meter.
Padre Petraglia inculcated very severely
Faitli, Hoi)e, and C'liaritv, and demanded alms for a white
porcelain St. Sebastian, who, grilled with arrows, occupied a
table hard by
those who would not" down with the dust" were
all "burros and cachorros " *
donkeys and dogs.
This was
their singing

was better in

time-

fervour than in the rival establishment.

;

:

—

suiting language to modified intelligence with a witness.

Un-

happily the Reverend has forgotten Italian and has not learned

Portuguese

—here

a

common phenomenon, and

not

a

little

puzzling to Hamitic comprehension.
*

The strange iirimncss ami "respect-

the old Portuguese forbade
them to pronounce the indelicate word cao
(dog) on the same principle that a Maltese
peasant when speaking of his wife says
"saving your ijresence. "
He therefore
preferred Cachorro, a low corruption of
the Latin Catulus, and made "pnp," like
ability "

of

"post-boy"
for

its

Latin

or

senior.

tongues

"drummer-boy," do duty
Tlius

also

have taken

all

the

the Neo-

name

of

a liorsc, not from " E([uus," but from GalnUus, "anag.
similar jirimness may be oliserved in
our "Philistine" English of the present
century.
Sketch, for instance, the figure
feminine. She has a bosom but no breasts,
a stomach and a spleen, but no belly nor
kidneys.
I believe that she has legs, but
no thighs; she has certainly ankles, but
she wants calves and so forth.

A

:

CHAPTER

XXIII.

THE PAST AND PRESENT OF THE ST. JOHN DEL REY MINE
AT MORUG VELHO.
"Brazil does not contain any gold-naine."— Tre's Llctlonary, suh voce.

The MoiTo

Mine was
who bought

Vellio

of Padre Freitas,

first
it

worked

in

1725 by the father

with 150,000 criizados, .£600

of our money, but in those days a very different sum.
Padre sold it, as has been said, to Captain Lyon, and the

The
total

cost of the estate has been s656,434 12s. 7d.

Our
''

earliest notice of it is in 1825,

when Caldcleugh

the gold mine of Congonhas da Sahara."

He

visited

describes

it

as

an immense " quebrada" or ravine, worked almost through the
heart of a mountain, whose
earlier miners,

was a

dehr'is

upper stratum, distiu'bed by the

of quartz, iron, and red earth.

The

was a highly-inclined mass of auriferous chlorite slate,
intersected by quartz veins, where gold resided in ferruginous
and arsenical ppites. The walls of the mine were encrusted
with white acicular crystals, an impure sulphate of alumine.
The Padre blasted his ore, and when short of powder he used the
Hannibalian method of rock-splitting with water, however, not
vinegar. The metal was stamped in five mills made progressively
powerful, and they produced 25
30 oitavas per diem of poorish
gold, seldom exceeding 19 carats.
The chief work was the
"Vinagrado" lode, so called from the reddish colour of the stone,
and it is said that the owner extracted from it in two months
24: 000 $000.
This was done with seventy slaves, each hand
lode

—

—

receiving 1^ oitava of gold per week.

Gardner, memorably ill-received by Mr. Goodair, Superintendent of Cocaes, was welcomed to Morro Velho by Mr. Crickitt,
Acting Chief Commissioner for Mr. Herring.
The traveller
spent a montli there in 1840, and has left an interesting account
of the

mine

in its

younger days.

He

found the auriferous vein

THE

CHAP, xxrii.]

ST.

JOHN DEL REY MINE.

231

occuniiig in greyish-coloured clay slate, and consisting of quartzose rock, mixed with carhonate of lime, and strongly impregnated

The

with iron and pyrites of copper and arsenic.

lode,

whose

general direction ranged east to west, was ahout seven fathoms

Here

wide, a httle to the east of the central workings.

into two branches running to the westward, whilst
Avhich

had been more deeply mined, extended to the

it

divided

two others
east.

The

ramifications gradually diverged, took a north-easterly direction,

and then ran

and ahout 100 feet from, each other.
The quantity raised varied from 1500 to 1600 tons per month,
and each ton gave a mean of 3 4 oitavas, and a maximum of 7.
The Tyrolese Zillerthal, a running amalgamation process of
revolving-mills, had been tried at Gongo Soco, and had abolished
the batea.
Here they failed. The arsenic formed with the gold
an alloy which rendered the operation difficult, and the waste of
quicksilver was excessive.
Roasting and calcining the ore had
also been abandoned, the arsenical fumes having proved dangerparallel to,

—

ous,

and

it is

said that a black

was poisoned by them when treating

the refuse sand.

The

early Reports of the present

Company

describe the

main

body of the metalliferous mass as occupying the southern flank of
at
a high mountain, whose contour it follows in parallel hues
the eastern extremity it bends north, and becomes too small to be
worth pursumg.
The mine consisted of three adjoinmg workThe easternmost was the "Arsenical,"
ings in the same lode.
ten fathoms deep: in the centre was the principal open cut called
:

the Bahu, or "box-hole,"* whilst westward, also ten fathoms
deep, was tlie now deserted Quebra Panella, or break-pot, so
termed from its uneven sui'face.
Mr. Herring proceeded to push with all possible force an adit
for unwatering the mine at a deeper level; to apply draining
and stuff-liaulmg machinery, and to sink the lode and break it by
"
stope-work. As a guard against falling, " letting arches remain
proved successful. He also set up " Arrastres " or triturators, +
each of which worked in the twenty-four hours four tons of refuse
* The " r.aliii," the French "Baliiit,"
In the Brazil it is
a travelling tiiink.
applied to many features, such as a sqiiare
rock rising from tlie water, or a cubical
In
block upon the summit of a mountain.
mines it is the hollow where the drainage
thus it is opgathers and forms a ^^cll
:

posed to a " Cachoeira," ground where the
Hence
water falls over and does not sink.
many great mines have a Bahu and a
Cachoeira.

t In Chap.
arrangement,

20

I

liave explained this

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

"532

[chap, xxiit.

From an average of twenty-seven head of stamps, the yield
December, 1835, was 271b. 11 oz. of gold. In 1838 communication was opened between the Bahu and Quebra Panella.
Mr.
Herring proposed to call them the " United Mines," bvit the old
In Jvily, 1838, the former
names were perforce retained.
workings of the Gamba,* a northerl}" off- set from the main
lode, and Mng to the eastward of the United Mines, Avere
cleared out, and the " Vinagrado " was abandoned.
At the same
sand.

in

time, the " Cachoeira " or easternmost section of the great vein

was opened.

Presently was discovered the important fact that

the whole mass of lode

lies

downward

in nearly

a true eastern

and the dip carries it forward some five feet ten inches
for every six feet simk when stoping.
In 1847, after his long service, INIr. Herring went home and
died.
Morro ^'elho has lost all her Commissioners in the prime
of life.
He was succeeded by Mr. George D. Keogh, formerly
Secretary to the Company, an active energetic man, but without
practical knowledge.
In his day (1846) Mr. Thomas Treloar
became the Head INIining-Captain, and the Company sent out a
chaplain, the Reverend Charles Wright, who was sensibly directed not to trouble himself with conversion, but to ojDen a
school for the children of their Eiu'opean emploj'es.
In 1855
Mr. Thomas WaUcer, M.D., became Superintendent. An amiable
and honourable man, he dreaded responsibility, and he trusted
much in others thus, as the gold returns j^rove, his rule was not
very successful. He also died, and in 1858 Mr. Gordon took
charge.
No more gold-weighing in private was allowed, and the
boast that three Superintendents had been got rid of, and that the
back of the fourth would soon be seen, was notably stultified. The
prospects of the Mine presently improved, and the consequence
was a dividend.!
direction,

:

" Gramba, in French " Sarigue," is a Brazilian mai-supial which does the duties
of a fox (Dedelphis caniivonis or Azaree).
It is applied oi^probriously to a negi'o as
well as to a mine.

t The followng is'an abstract of the gold produced by the Mon-o Velho Mine under its
several Suijerintendents
my information comes from the best .source the Company's
Annual Reports.

—

:

Mr. HeiTing (1837—1847).
41,861 oitavas of gold.
60,472
,,
63,842
„
„
76,908
,,
70,945 (= 68 lbs. 1 oz. Trov).
„
92,744 oitavas of gold.
„
127,834
,,

In 1837 Morro Velho produced

1838
„ 1839
„ 1840
,,

,,
,,

,,

,,1841
,,1842

,,

1B43

,,

,,

,,

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

,

.

.

.

THE

oiiAP. xxTit.]

ST.

JOHN DEL REY MINE.

It is easy to superintend in

been

England establishments which have

perhaps for generations

drilled for years,

2.3.1

;

far otherwise in

these regions, where the weight rests on one "pair of shoulders."

Directors of future Companies,

if

they would benefit shareholders

rather than promote friends and relations, should be as careful
in choosing a Superintendent as they have been in the selection

At the mine he should possess the
power of a colonel commanding a French, not an
EngUsh regiment, and receive daily reports from his officers,
instead of meeting them in consultation he should be entitled to
make and unmake all his subalterns, and should be expected to
take upon himself all responsibility.
The subaltern might be
allowed to send him complaints against his superiors, and if
of a reporting engineer.

absolute

:

iniable to substantiate
It

them, he should at once be dismissed.

pleasing to see the excellent arrangements of Morro

is

Velho amongst a people so defective in the organising and administrative capacity as are the English
at least in the Brazil.
T^et me cite, as an instance, a certain Anglo-BraziUan Railway,

—

:Marcli

1,

,,

1844 to February
1845,,
,,
1846,,
,,

28,

1845
1846
1847

IVIorro Yellio
,,
,,

produced 124,432 oitavas of gold.
128,515
,,
,,
154,584
,,

Mr. Keogh (1847—1855).
•.Afarcli

1,

1847 to February 28, 1848 Morro
1848 ,,
,,

Dr.

March
,,
,,

1855
21, 1856
1857
11,

to

March

,,

,,

21,
20,

,,

,,

19,

Yellio

produced 175,4.39
230,136
270,488
,,
278,654
324,279

,,

,,

35.3,761

„

„

372,679
364,428

Walker (1855— 1858\
1856 Morro Velho produced 346,031*
307,261
1857
,,
,,
261,247
1858
,,
,,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

234

wliicli

[chap.

win.

Mr. Superin-

consisted of four iiidepeiideiit kiiigdonilets.

tendent was not allowed to give an order, and thus he superinMr. Chief Engineer commanded the road.
tended nothing.

Mr. Mechanical Engmeer was lord supreme over a few carriages
and inclined planes, whilst INIr. Transport-Manager, who was also,
curious to say,

Storekeeper, ruled as absolutely as the chiefs,

INIr.

The

his neighbours.

But Mr.

Brazilian gazed with wonder.

Gordon is an Irishman, and the "individuality of the individual"
is less bristly, less tyrannous in this section of the Keltic race than
in the Anglo-Briton.

"We have seen that the three great mines form a single conThe Quebra Panella is

tinuation of the same line of mineral.

next to it is a small aftair, the Champion ground,
from a person, and not used in the common mining
sense; in the centre is the Bahvi, divided into east and west,
whilst over the Bahii and easternmost lies the Cachoeira,* also
having two sections. The "Box-hole " and the " Rapids " are in fact
Avesternmost

— so

;

called

The

one mine.

wedge or bar of

early workers left a large

between them, but

tliis,

after

killas

due consideration, was removed in

1860.

The breadth

of the lode varies from four to sixty feet.

general direction where worked

The

shiftings.

dip

is

The

west to east, with northerly

is 45°, rising to

a

maximum

of 46° 30',

or

The
from south 82° east to south 58° east.
cleavage planes of the killas are in some places transverse to, in
others parallel with the lode. In certain sections of the mine-walls

47°.

The

strilie is

The
they bear north 36° east, but the average is more easterly.
direction is south 46° east, and then- dip is at angles varying from
Parts of the walls have been fomid to be bauUv and

43° to 70°.

unsound, jointy and
greatly exaggerated.

of the mineral vein,

Cachoeira.

scaly,

but in the early Reports the

evils

were

The underlay or underhe dip, or inclination
is 6° in the Bahu and 8° in the Middle

Its dip varies

from south 82° east to south 58°

east,

* In July, 1867,

The
,,
,,

vertical depth of the Cachoeira Sline

depth on the dip of the lode

,,

was

.189

.

.

.

.

264

fathoms.
,,

length of excavation (E. and ^y. of the Siunp)
66
.
,,
of the excavation varied from 6 to 45 feet, average 29 feet.

The width
The

.

depth of the Bah II is
depth on the dip of the lode
vertical

....
.

.

.

.

170 fathoms.
2(i7

,,

length of the excavation (west of Sump, or lowest | ^.-,
•"
..
part of the shaft)
|
The width of the excavation ranged from 11 to 90 feet, with an average of 44
,,

feet.

—
ciiA!'.

THE

Will.]

and the inclination

The

ST.

JOllX DEL,

HEY MINE,

IVoni 42° to 47°, but

235

everywhere parallel with

still in the eastern Bahu.
There may be good lody matter nestling to the south-east, and in
that direction " dead works " are being carried on with zeal.
Much had been expected from the western extremity, but a shaft
sunk there gave very poor i-esults.
During the half-year between September and March, 1866
1867,* the net profit on the working of the mines had been
After making all reductions, there remained available
£49,131.
for dividend =£54,434, and the Directors "had the satisfaction" of

the

strife.

recommendmg

richest part of the lode is

the pajnnent of

£4

share, free of income-

5s. j)er

and independent of the 10 per
In this prosperous
reserve fund.

cent, carried as usual to the

tax,

state I

left

the mine.

November 21, 1867, a fire broke
considerable damage was done.

shortly after, in the night of

and despite
*

all eftbrts

The followiug are the

figures

9 days in Maroli yielded
April

May
June

between March 23 and September 21
19,627 oitavas.
50,046
,,
60,454
,,
52,076
,,
48,405
,,
52,016
,,
32,028
,,
.

.

18 60

;

out,

—

.

.......

July

August
September (21 days)

.

.

.

.

Total

The net

of

But

profit

Interest on

314,652

on the working was

moneys unemployed

Balance of undivided

pi-ofits

.

.

....
....
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

£52,880

Total

Deducting the London expenses

Remain

£

d.

s.

50,566 9
1,570
743 11

8

4

1

1,193 10

3

;
£51,686 4 9
During this half-year 7000 tons v.'ere raised in excess of the previous half-year, or
53,698 to 46,029, and this is the greatest amount yet quarried.
On the other hand it
had 41 '6, and the latter only 36 "6 of the valueless killas.

for dividend

.

.

.

CHAPTER XXIV.
LIFE AT

MORRO

YELTLO—innifiinicd).

" Ipsaque barbaries aliquid prcesentit lionesti."

A

PECULIAR

sight,

and very

for a photograph, is the Eevista

fit

or muster of the BLicks, which takes place every second Sunday.

AVhen we were there ahout 1100 out of 1452 attended in the
*'
Compound " fronting the " Casa Grande." Both sexes were
bare-footed

—

ever_\"vvhere in

women, fronted by a

The

the Brazil a token of slavery.

young

were ranged in
"
columns of six companies. They were dressed in the " Sabbath
uniform, white cotton petticoats, with narrow red band round
the lower third

;

j^icket of twelve

gii'ls,

cotton shawls striped blue and white, and a

bright kerchief, generally scarlet, bound round the wool.

On

the

proper right, perpendicular to the column, are the " good-conduct

women." The first 3'ear's badge is a broad red band round the
white hem, and rei)laced by narrow red stripes, one for each year,
till the mystic number seven * gives freedom. We saw ten women
and as many men officially apply for the preliminaries to manumission.

Ranged behind the women, the men
loose blue woollen pants, red caj^s

cotton trousers.

are clothed in white shirts,

— Turkish

The "jacket men,"

are called, stand on the proper left

the battalion of Amazons.

of,

They wear

as

or Glengarry

tlie

and

— and

"good conducts"

at right angles with,

tailless coats of blue serge,

bound with red cuffs and collars, white waistcoats, overalls with
red stripes down the seams, and the usual bonnets
each has a
medal with the Morro Velho stamp, the badge of approaching
;

freedom.

Children of an age to attend the Revista are clad in

the same decent comfortable

way

;

a great contrast they offer to

the negrolings that sprawl about the land.
* The cnstoiTiary period

is

10 years,

Init it lias lieen

humanely

reduced.-

CH.vp.

LIFE AT

XXIV.]

MORRO VELHC

237

made by the heads of the
This done, the Superintendent, Ibhowed
by the Manager and Assistant Manager of the Bhxcks, and the two
medical officers, walks down the companies and minutely inspects
each individual. I observed that almost all the " chattels " were
The

slaves answer to the rolL-call

respective dei)artments.

country born

;

there was only one Munjolo,* distinguished by

the three scars of his race; the other "persons held to service"
call

him " Paj^agente

" or man-eater.

After inspection, a pay-table Avas spread before the door, and
the girls and small children received their allowance of i)ay and

The

soap.

raised to 6

of former days have been

three coppers (0$120)

—8

for those

stone carriers get 12
ings and overtime, f

Each takes per week

employed on the spalling

"dumps"

of "obligation."

the pay will

increase to

floor,

and the

By extra earr16—20 coppers.

pound of soap the cost of this article
to the Company ranges between 300$ 000 and 400^000 a montli,
or annually 360/. to 480/.
Tlie men and married women are paid
at the Public Office.

now they

half a

;

Tlie Ibrmer ancientl}' received 4 coppers,

get double, and by industry they

patacas each of 8 coppers.

The average

may

gain from 8 to 10

of rewards and overtime

paid to the blacks amounts to 1600$ 000 per fortnight, or about

annum.
Muster over, both sexes and all ages are marched off to church.
The day is then then* own. The industrious will look after
house and garden, pigs and poultry they will wash and sew, or
The idle and dissolute will
fetch water, wood, or grass for sale.
keep the day holy in African fashion, lie in the sun, smoke, and if
3840Z. per

;

they can, drink and smoke hemp, like the half-reclaimed savages
of " Sa Leone." Dinah here and elsewhere is proverbially fond of

and fine rags. Parade over, she will doff her regimental
and don a showy printed gown and a blazmg shawl, the

trinkets
attire

envy of

all

beholders.

Once the negroes showed us what

in

Hindostan

is

called "ta-

masha," in Spain and Portugal a " folia," in Egypt and Morocco
a " fantasiyah," and here a " Congada " or Congo-ry. A score

promenadmg through the settlement, came to the
Casa Grande. They were dressed, as they fondly imagined, after
of men, after

*

A

well-known race from the lumls
St. Hil. writes
the Congo regions.
the word Jlonjolo, thus confounding the
ca.st of

animate with the

t

inanini.itc

machine.

Technically called " fazer horas."

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

238

[chap. xxn'.

st^'le of the Agua-Rosada House,* descended from the great
Manikongo and hereditaiy lords of Congo land. But the toilettes,
though gorgeous with coloru'ed silks and satins, Avere purel}^ fanciful, and some Avore the Kanitar or plumed head-gear, and the
Arasvia or Avaist fringe, and carried the Tacape or tomahaAvk beAll AA-ere armed Avitli sA\'ord and shield,
longing to the red man.

the

except the king, Avho, in sign of dignity, carried his sceptre, a
The masked old man, Avith Avhite beard,
stout and useful stick.

trembling under-jaAA', cheA^rotante A'oice, and testy manner, Avas
On his right
cleA^erly represented by a young black from Sahara.
sat the captain of Avar, the

Premier

on his

;

left

the young Prince,

an uninteresting negrokin. Of course the buffoon
of the Dahoman com-t Avas there, and the fun consisted in
kicking and cuffing him as if he Avere one of our cloAvns or

his son

and

heir,

"pantaloons."

The "play"

AA-as

delight that mild

a representation of the scenes Avhich most
race, orders for a shiA-e hunt;

and amiable negro

the march, accompanied

AA^ith

much running about and

of sAvords, Avliich all handled like butchers' ImiA'es

;

clashing

the surprise,

dragging in prisoners, directions to put to death recreant ministers

—

and AA^arriors, poisonings and administering antidotes in fact,
"saAage Africa." His Majesty freely used his staff, threshing

The speeches

eA'erA'body right regally.

AA-ere deliA-ered

in a sing-

the language AA'as Hamitico-Lusan, and there A\'as
Bong tone
an attempt at cadence and rliyme. Slaughtering the foeman and
drinking his blood Avere the faA'ourite topics, A-aried b}' arch
After half an
allusions to the Superintendent and his guests.
bakshish
and
Avent
their
to
sIioav
their finery
hour they receiA'ed
;

elseAA'here.

The ceremonies of the Sunday ended Avith fiA'e coui)le bringing
as many neAA-ly baptised bits of black, to receiA^e the reAA'ard of
Payment for progeny is a good idea; as a rule the
fertility.

up

Brazilian slave

girl saySj

"What

" cliaftV tins roselike
adopted liy full-blooded ueAn integi-oes, biit it is pure history.
resting account of the dynasty, and a sketch
01
Is icolas,
rrincc oi Congo, has been
lately given by M. A'aldcz.
(Vol. II.
Chap. 2,
Six Years of a Traveller's Life
* It sonncls

'V\ater

title

'

'

in

Western Afiica."

Ulackett.

1861.)

London:

Hui-st

&

has a captive
+ "Oattivo

"'

t

to

do

Avitli

(Cattiva, fern.), eupluiistic

or "escrava," which is
opposed to " foiTO, " a freeman, the Arabic

for

"csci-avo,"

-^

j^

,^

^^^

^.^^^^^.
•

^^^.^

j^^.

^

,

~

"resgatar, " to ransom, because
they are supposed to be thus
saved from being muixlered by their hostile
slaves

is

officially

captors.

—

J

MORRO VELHO.

LIFE AT

CHAP. XXIV.

2-49

At Morro Velho, on the contraiy, negresses

children?"

desire

issue because they are temporarily taken off work.

Unfortunately,

Avhen the second babe

first is

neglected, and

hand.

It is

the doctor

is

to nurse only

death

till

is at

an object

one child, and to be ready for bearhig another when

Thus

required.

be born, the

to

is

rarely sent for

the hospital books* for the

first six

months of

1867 show that the death-rate of negroes has doubled the birthwith a total of 1452, 16 Avere born and 32 died.t
The sires of ''occipital race" are in a state of wonderful grin

rate

:

The mothers,

"patulis stant rietibus omnes."

gold chains, are marshalled by a big black

Meg

in

marvellous

Merrilies,

who

seems omnipotent over her sable flock. Each matron receives a
mil-reis, a bottle of wine, and a bit of the best advice from the
Superintendent. When the ceremony ends, the scamp of the
party he is ever foremost on such occasions proposes three
cheers, and a tiger for Mr. Gordon, and all depart in high

—

—

feather.

A

muster is also held daily in the great hall of the
Ranch," which is lighted up during the dark season.
The bell sounds at 5 a.u. half an hour afterwards, the Brazilian
assistants, in presence of Mr. Smyth, call out the names, first of
the men, then of the women, and lastly of the new comers, who,
being sometimes rebelliousl}' inclined, are being broken to harness.
Breakfast is cooked overnight, and each labourer carries off his
slave

''Blacks'

;

meal.
I also visited the hospital, which is under the charge of Mrs.

Holman, the matron, and inspected the reports, transmitted
monthly and yearly to the directors. The building is as well
situated as any other, and

is

clean and new, spacious and conve-

men

Yet the blacks
and prefer to die in their
own huts consequently many of them are brought in only Avhen
moribund. There is a white ward, but Englishmen are usually
treated at home, and they get sick leave, if absence from work be
nient

have,

;

Avhilst

the medical

live

Sepoys, an aversion to

lilve

close by.

it,

;

deemed necessaiy.
The medical reports

take,

"
Since Deceinl>cr, 1866, Pr. Weir has
kept a register of Births and Deaths of all
whites and negi-oes, free Brazilians, who
work in the establishment, not included.
Before that time births were registered,

I think, rather too favourable a
ilcaths

vcrc uot.

is of opiniou that
(i. 184)
the birth-rate does not balance the deathrate of slaves in the Brazil, and I quit'j

t Castelnau

aLji'ce

with him.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

240

view Avhen they declare

tlie

^iiAr. xxiv.

black population of Moito Vellio to

be "as a rule liealtliy." Dr. Robert Monach remarked in 1848,
"When we consider the constitution of the negroes, the modified (?) texture of their skin, performing a greater extent of function

than in the European, and recollect to what great and abrupt
changes of temperature they are continually exposed, from a very

and the nature of their
must be granted that the mortality is small, a
cii'cumstance which affords the best i)roof that every care is taken
In 1846 a "remarkable cirto preserve them in good health."
of the 14 deaths 1 only
namely,
that
cumstance" was observed,
was from the English negroes of Cata Branca, 2 were of 244
"Company's Blacks," and 4 were of 141 hired from Brazilians.
It was suggested that the disproportion arose from good living
after poor diet suddenly changed; and yet many have testified
that the negroes improve ui flesh, colour, and personal appearance after a few months at Morro Vellio. In 1848 Dr. Birt
remarks that "in England the per-centage of deaths, including

variable climate,* theii- great carelessness,

occupations,

it

the whole population,

more than

2|-

is

not less than 3 per cent

per cent."!

Dr.

Thomas

ours

;

is

a

little

"Walker, "Physician to

upon the sanitary condition
them decimated by pneumonia,

the Forces," Avho in 1850 reported
of the

Morro

a very

common and

Brazil.
lancet,

He

Vellio blacks, found

treacherous malad}' in the Highlands of the

regretted that he could not use

more

freely the

from which the blacks seem instinctively to shrink, and

thus sometimes they save their lives in the teeth of science, t

From the I{ei)orts it appears that about every ten years there is
abnormal mortality produced by the " nature of the climate and
local situation, and by the social condition and peculiarities in
the constitution of the blacks." Diseases of the brain and bowels
are severe

;

dysentery and pleuris}' carry

off"

many

victims, whilst

sometimes epidemic, and often latent, leading to a
rapid development.
Of the 90 men and women in hosi)itals,

pneumonia

is

several sufl'ered from malignant ulcers of the extremities, aggra-

* The drainage of

tlie

Central African

plateau, or raised liasin, I have remarked
less regidar than that of the Brazil.
In
other points the climates remarkably re.'emble each other.
I have often been

reuiindcd of Usagara on the Serra do Mar,

and

of

Unyamwezi

in

Winas Geracs and

Bao Paulo,
+ For the
tality, see

official

Appendix

average rate of morSection A.

1,

J His paper has been

])rinted

in

tiic

Twenty-first Annual Report of the Conipany.
(London
R. Clay, Bread-street:

hill.)

CHAP. XXIV.]

LIFP:

at MOKKO VELHO.

241

mundic water, which is said to cause
wounds. The loathsome " bobas " or yaws, hardly
known to northern Europe, except in marine hospitals, are here as
vated perhaps by the

gangrene

m

common

as on the Guinea Coast the people dread the disease,
and declare of it " nao se pode dizer tive bobas " " no man can
say 'I have had 3-aws.'"
What Caldcleugh calls " atoa (or
chance) connections"* amongst the slaves, are energetically repressed by the Superintendent, and the officers set an example of
scrupulous good conduct: yet as at " Sa Leone," so here, the
majority of cases are venereal, and even children are born with
;

'

*

But such

corona veneris.

own

and

country,

in

it

is

—

the negTo everywhere out of his

also

where Europeans

made

have

colonies.

What

T/ondrous scene the future theu shall view.
human, ruling sea and strand,
Feigned human by the philanthropic few.
A monstrous, foul, deformed and fetid band.
Males, bestial all, and females all untrue,
Lust, perjury, superstition, taint the land
Such fortune, " Sa Leone," becomes thee well,

The

links, half

:

Thou negro

Women

paradise, thou white

man's

about to become mothers are taken

to hospital in the

fom'th month.

hell

off

!

t

work and

are sent

After confinement they are

work sometimes for half a
Those familiar with the con-

relieved from hard labour, and they

year in the sewing department.
dition of the Lancashire " bloomers," of the Cornish
assist in di'essing the

tin ores,

women who

and of the English agricultural

own that the slave-mother is far
Morro Vellio mines. The young childi'en,
tended by an elderly woman, play mider a large tiled shed in the
great square of the Boa Vista Quarters.
But the negro in the

labourers' wives generally, will

better treated at the

an exotic, he is out of his proper ethnic centre it is
keep hmi alive, as the next quarter century will prove,
and when young he requii'es every attention from the parent, t

Brazil

is

;

difficult to

* A word often misleading strangers in
the Brazil, and appearing as the name of
It is properly
plants and other things.
a t6a, the literal meaning "by tugging,"
or "towing;" the secondary signification
goveruo," u.selessly, inconsideis " Sem
ratelj', and the popular meaning is bad,
worthless, unimjJortaDt, uma cousa k tOa,
thus converting it into an adjei-tivc.

VOL.

I.

+ Not

in Camoens, Canto V. 12.
Like
friend the author of ' Wanderings in
AVest Africa," I have adopted the nigger

my

'

"Sa Leone," which is merely a corniption of a word already con-upt.
J Nothing can be more eiToneous than the
assertion of St. Hil. (III. ii. 72, and other
jjlaces), that in the Brazil the negro race
" tend a so pcrfcctionucr. " Equally abroad

form

n

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

242

The

Brazilian planter

who would not

see the

[chap. xxiv.

number of his

slaves

diminish, allows the eliildren to be with their mothers, and the

be

latter to

One

off

of the

work for two and even for three years.
most interestmg visits at Morro Velho

cotton-spinning department in the Companj^'s store.

is to

the

The hands

mixed breeds, often free they work by the
and they feed and lodge themselves. They are paid at the
end of each month, at the rate of 0$300 to 0$400 per lb. of spun
yarn, and each averages 4
The material is
5 lbs. per week.
mostly brought from the dry regions lying west of the Diamantine
district, and from the banks of the Rio das Vellias, esjiecially
Santa Quiteria, in the municipalit}' of Cruvello. The plant, which
the Indians called "Aminiiu," is the black-seeded, preferred in
are negi'o girls, and

:

task,

—

the old Brazil to the herbaceous.

rated
is

b}'

the simple

bow

believed to be stronger and

(32 lbs.) of seed-cotton, worth

ping 7

—8

lb.

of

The

of Hindostan,

more

lint is
still

more

easily spun.

0$100 per

easily sepa-

used, whilst the fibre

lb.,

An

arroba

yields after whip-

clean fibre, whose value rises to 0$4:00 and

During the

last three years prices have been raised by
Rio de Janeiro and, as the following images
will prove, the Brazil, and especiall}' the Province of Minas, with
her parent Sao Paulo, has, in her cotton lands, a mine of wealth
which wants only machinerj' and lines of communication.
The seed is removed from the Hnt by a charkha, a mere toj',
two little c^-linders of smooth hard wood, about 1 foot long, of

$ 500.

demand

increased

at

;

broom-stick thickness, set close together in a diminutive frame,

and worked contrary wise by winches.*
childi-en, whilst a third

These are turned by two

presents the cotton, which passes betAveen

the rollers and comes out free. I afterwards saw an improvement
upon this rude and venerable hand-machine a water-vrheel worked
by means of pulleys and bands, eight sets of cylinders, each
served by a slave, who cleaned 96 lbs. per diem. By adding a
hopper to supply the cotton, a whipper to remove, and a fan to
:

was the learned and ecceutrio Dr. Knox.
" From Santo Domingo he (the negro) drove
out the Celt
from Jamaica he will expel
the Saxon
and the expulsion of the Lusitanian from Brazil is only an affair of time.
As in the United States, emancipation will
;

;

annihilate the African race, which, with
very rare exceptions, is viable as a slave
i-ecniited from home, not as a freeman in
lands occupied by higher blood.
It is

impossible not to notice the ciuious selfcontradiction of Dr. Knox, who threatened
vnth extinction the Anglo-American (not
to mention others), because removed from
his proper habitat, and yet who promised
a mighty and productive future to the
African under the same circumstances,
* There are many varieties of the wheel,
many have only one -nanch.

—

—
IJFE AT

CHAP. XXIV. J

transport

the

lint,

MOKRO VELHO.

243

one pair of hands might do the work

ol"

eight.

In nothing does nationality display her ditierences and pecumore notably than in cotton-cleaning machinery. The
Brazilian and the Hindu chieliy rely upon Nature's instruments,
and the best of all instruments the fingers. The English invent
liarities

—

good, dear, solid articles, safe enough, but tedious, tardy unto
impossibility

And

the trail of the slow

The North-American

worm

contrivances,

is

over

all.

the popular saw-gins

instance, are cheaj?, poor, easy to manage,
si^eed,

them

but they tear the fibre to pieces.

and work

for

at railway

I believe that the old

cylinder of the Brazil w^ould with certain improvements

become

superior to any yet invented.

Captain Joaquim Felizardo Eibeiro, whose mill

is

about three

sum the Company
which £200 worth per mensem is consumed

miles distant, contracts to supply at a fixed

with gunpowder, of

He

hard-wood charcoal he receives from
sulphur and saltpetre and he
prepares the article in the proportions required by the establishment. Mr. Gra}', an EngHshman, makes the safety-fuse, which
is always charged ^nth gunpowder from home.
The other fuses
are worked by the black spinsters. Blasting-oil or nitro-giycerine
has not yet, I believe, been tried.
The Company's store also contains the theatre, which is always
fully attended, and which deserves well of the moralist as a
civilizmg agent
in fact, what Salt Lake City holds it to be. Mr.
Wood, assistant pro ton. in the Reduction Office, and -Mr. White,
The "house" is
jun., were the stars at the time of our visit.
on the left are the
a long room with two lines of benches
officers
to the right sit the mechanics and miners, with their
The stage is a boarded
wives, and fronted by theii* cliildren.
we had
platform, opposite a raised orchestra at the other end
nigger mmstrels, the Neiwes, and every latest
all lands of fun,
comic song. After hearing the shouts of laughter which greeted
every screaming farce, the author would have modified his old
in blasting.

England,

finds the

;

at cost prices, the best

;

—

;

;

;

—

saw
Angiica geua,

Optima

flens,

Pes-iiraa ridcn>=.

244

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

Sucli, reader, is life at

We

Morro Velho,

[chap. xxiv.

in the heart of the Brazil.

such however
countrymen received us, and
such their kindness and hospitality, that we could not tear ourselves awav till the month was ended.
intended, I have said, to pass a week there

Avas the cordiality

with which

oiu'

;

CHAPTER XXV.
DOWN THE

MINE.

At noon-day here
'Tis twilight,

and at sunset blackest night.

Mr. Gordon made every aiTangement for our safe descent.
Gordon also, who had never before ventured under
gi*ass, kmdly consented to accompany my wife.
It was settled
Mrs.

and I should descend first, and receive the
bottom of the pit. Mr. James Estlick, the captain in
charge of the mine,* saw us properly clad in heavy boots for protecting the ankles, and in stiif leather hats to guard the head
from falling stones, and to carry a " dip" stuck on by a lump of
clay; the rest of the toilette was " old clothes," for the wearing
out of which my Hibernian cousin defined Rome to be a capital
place.
A small crowd of surface workmen accompanied us to the
mouth of Walker's inclined plane, a hot and unpleasant hole,
leading to the Caehoeira Mine.
The negret Chico gave one
glance at the deep dark pit, wrung his hands, and fled the Tophet,
crying that nothing in the vdde, wide world would make him
enter such an Inferno.
He had lately been taught that he is
a responsible being, with an " immortal soul," and he was

that Mr. L'pool
rest at the

beginnmg

to believe

it

in a

rough theoretical way

:

this certainly

did not look like a place where the good niggers go.

Mr. John AVhittaker, who reached Morro Velho just in time to
be of the party, and the Superintendent, thought it infra dig.
Yet even Geordy
to descend otherwise than by the footway. f
"
The miners
corve."
Stephenson did not alwaj'S despise the
because
ladder,
run up and down like cats, much preferring the
here they depend upon themselves, not on the chain the stranger
;

* The Superintendent iirefcrs not to
have a head mining caiitain, and in this I
There are four captains,
think he is right.
who change every week in takin? the day

and night work,
t Meaning the ladders for ingress and
egress, including the space around tliem.

—
the highlands OF THE BRAZIL.

lM6

[chap. xxv.

some four hours, and next clay or two his knees will
remind him of the feat. I preferred, despite all the risks spoken
of, the hig iron bucket which weighs nearly a ton, and carries
some nineteen cwts. of ore the Cornishmen call it a " kibble,"
the Brazilians, a "ca^amba."*
It hangs to a carriage, running
on a shaft of iron-shod wood, descending at an angle of about
46°, and it is lowered and raised by a haul-wheel worked by
water-power.
There are two breaks. Cornice " drags," in the
traction machinery for arresting progress suddenly, and should
the chain snap, there is a catch, to which, howeyer, one must not
trust.
The big tub careers helplessly forwards and downwards,
''with a surge," till the strong rivets give way, and tlie affair
becomes a ruin the fate of a man dashed into this apparently

will take

;

;

fathomless abyss of darkness

may

When

imagined.

be

the

kibble has reached the hauling station where the shaft ends,
self-acting springs detach
vertically

and

is filled

it

from

its

carriage

;

it

then descends

with stone.

Accidents have been exceptionally rare in the (Ireat

jNIine

;

few

have required the epitaph
Here

lies tlie

body of Jan Trenow,

Killed undei'groiind,

we

can't say hoAv.

And

there has been no loss of life between July 1, 1865, and
November, 1867. The contingencies have arisen chiefly from the
breaking of dishonestly made chains, which should last two years,
but which have often struck work after six months.
The links
fail owing to defective welding of the scarf, the mere skin of
outer surface soon wears through, and imminent danger is the
result.
At first wire-ropes Avere tried and failed
improved
manufacture and different conditions of application have now
rendered them safe.
Under any average circumstances, however, a trip in the "kibble " is not more risky than to descend
any one of the four terrible inclined planes, those glissades of
death, which make the stranger " squirm " on the Santos and
Sao Paulo Railway.
;

Presently the bucket was suspended over the abyss, and we
found in it a rough wooden seat, comfortable enough. We were
This must not he confounded with the
Angolan word "Ca^iinba," meaning a pit
for water, sunk generally in the hed of
a

nullali,

veiy

Francisco,

common on

the

lower Sao

DOWN THE

XXV.]

rirAP.

MINE.

247

advised by the pitmen not to look downwards, as the glimmer
of sparks and light-points

moving about

in the

We

below, causes giddiness and sea-sickness.

however, and none of us suffered from the
advice was to

when passing

especially
tilted

keep head and hands
the

mighty obscure
did look down,

More

trial.

well within the

up-going

tub.

half over only once against a kibble

We

useful

bucket,

tijiped

and

way drum, placed

to

fend off the " Cacamba."

Those Avho followed us had three
such collisions, which made them catch at the chains, and
describe them as " moments of fearful suspense " they had
;

been lowered in a kibble with a superfluity of chain. A stout
young fellow, Zachariah Williams, one of the " lads below," kept
within hail of us, descending the footway as fast as we rattled

down

in oui* novel vehicle.

mighty timbering* which met
timber in brackets,
timber in the footways and sollars

I could not but marvel at the

the eye as

it

dilated in the darkness visible

timber in hitches or holes

;

—

and timber in the stuUs, platforms for detlie wall, and for defending the
workmen.
All was of the best and hardest wood, and it is
hardly conceivable how in such damp air it could have caught
lire.
The immunitv of Brazilian cities and towns results mostly
from the use of timber more like heart-of-oak than our dealtinder.
The sight suggested a vast underground forest, but
or resting places

;

positing ore, for strengthening

*

Woods

of the

fir.'it

qnnlity ave-

Aroeira

Cauella Vermellui

Landim

Angelim

Moreira

Brauna, Parda

Cangeraua
Folha de Bolo

Preta

Grongalo Aires

Do.

Balsamo
Capebano
CyciipiiM

i

Liquorana
Tinta
Tamboril

Ipe
.Tacai'anda,

Do.

(Sii'ii]pira)

Cedro

Taa
Cabiuna

Jatobft
inferior growths are reckoned-

Amongst

Goiabeira

Canella Amarella
Preta
Do.
Sassafras
Do.
Loura
Do.
Oycni)iruna
Coita (Agoital Cavallo

Angico

Anga
Bagi-e

Cabui
Canafistuln

Cochoa
Catoa

The

Massaranduba
Paroba Verm ell a

Mangue
Oleo Venuelho
Pinheiro Vennelho

Paroba Branca
Vinhation

Camboata

cost of 5 cubic feet of tirst quality

„
..
,,

50
loo
70

„

„

,,

,,

,,

„

is

2 $000
60$000
190$000

—

;

of second quality, 2 $000
"

45 $000

ro$ooo

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

248

[f'HAP.

xxv.

a forest torn up by terrible floods, and dashed about by cata-

The mighty
need hardly be said, Avas not without a plan, very
palpable at the second look.
Terrible was the thrust in places
racts in all directions, with the wildest confusion.

maze,

it

;

the vastest trunks of the Brazilian forest giants have been cloven

once removed and replaced by others.

or crushed.

These are

The work

never allowed to get into arrears

is

at

be kept tidy as well as

;

everything must

and the masonry

safe,

as carefully

is

watched as the timber. After a short delay one pomt becomes
weak, another dangerous, the water comes in, the mine works
flat, and i)resently something gives way.

The
this,

why those who

sight explains

threaten

it

are jealous

of the

mme

with exhaustion of Avood for fuel and propping.

however, there

district is still

sujDplies for

Of

no present danger, the whole Paraopeba

is

vmtapped, and the Bio das Velhas will yield large

many

We

years.

on the way to

shall pass charcoal

Sahara, and quantities are to be found at INIacacos to the soutli of
the

Morro Yelho

In thi^

i)art

estate.

of the Brazil, .young wood, and especially that

of small girth, does not last,

if

The

May

people here

fell

from

it

during the

cut

rainy season.

to August, preferring June,

and avoiding, as they say, "months Avhich have no R's," as
oysters in months which have them.
The rationale is

we shun
easil}'

understood

;

when the "

in the cold season,

set in, the sap leaves the bole

and returns

wood

so easy to account for the general belief that

moon's wane
fell

is

not liable to the

worm

;'"'

even

I believe, our ancestors

despite northern scepticism,

may

moon was

is

Indians will not

in

In England,

bald, objected to

waxing.

everj'where

It is not

cut during the

is full.

their hair being cut while the

matter of

tlie

when the satelhte
who did not wish to be

trees for their canoes

dries " have well

to the ground.

Lunar
the

action,

Tropics

a

mesmerism, as the efl'ect
of latent electricity, or bhnd sympathy of some unknown force,
or, best of all, with De Quincy's Uttoxv, or suspended judgment.
faith.

"We

treat

* "He que cumiire nos minguantes
serem deiTiibadas." Silva, Lisboa Annaes,

153.
I
question of
years been

am

pleased to see that the
lunar influence has of late
considered unsettled.
Dr.
Winslow adduces evidence to prove that as
reg:ivds its cfTect upon the insane, much

iii.

it

like

may

be said on both sides.

Witli resiDect
pernicious action upon sleepers, we
are now told that the "moon's rays contain polarised light, which cai-bonises, and
is therefore antagonistic to tlie sun's rays,
to its

which oxygenate."

—
DOWN THE

CHAP. XXV.]

The timbering does honour
tain in

charge.

per log.

It is Avorked

to

MINE.

249

Mr. John Jackson, the cap-

mostly by contract, at so

The men who undertake

the job

receive

much

no

pay,

but are supplied with candles, and each pan- has a negro gang
of 30
40 head. If they " tip " the slaves it is on the principle
or want of it which makes us tip the railway guard.
And here

—

a white

We

—

man

striking a black

is

very properly fined.

made an easy descent through

this timber avenue of
monstrous grandeur, and a bit of lighted tow tied to the bucketchain showed us all its features.
There was no "rattle his bones
At the
over the stones," and the trip lasted fifteen minutes.
bottom the kibble stood still, began to roll like a boat, and
descended perpendicularly till we were received by Mr. Andrew,
the stopes captain, now on duty.
To-night Mr. "Williams will
relieve him.
Our eyes being here unaccustomed to the new
gloom, we applied them to the unwatering system, as we stood
in the " sump," which to collect the drainage was a little sunk

There are two pumps, one in the
Cachoeii-a, the other in Balm, each with five sets of plungers,
worked by water power. The rods of the Bahii are 649 feet
2 inches from the centre of the crank nij^ple pin to the middle
below the deepest workings.

A hose from the stope-bottom is
by a " lift" or suction-pump, which feeds a cistern above
higher up the process is carried on by plunger-bolts, imtil
the water is conveyed through the sump-shaft to the surface.
"
This is a decided improvement upon the Brazihan " bomba
and"macacu," which perpetuates the old " hund " or " liundof the pin at the surface bob.

filled

;

slauf" of the Frej'berg miners.

Presently Mrs. Gordon and

my

wife, habited in

brown-holland

came down dehghted
with the "kibble" travelling.
The hands did everything to
banish alarm showed lights at the stulls spoke and cheered as
They
they passed, and were attentive as if in a drawing-room.
were received with friendly welcomes to the mines, and loud
" vivas." "SVe were then joined by Messrs. Gordon and Whittaker,
who will suffer from what the Permian miners call " Macolca."*
When our eA'esight had become somewhat feline, we threw a general
Once more the enormous timbering under the
glance around.
trowsers, belted blouses, and

;

*

A

mmer's

caps,

;

painful soreness of the muscles, particularly in the fore ]iart of the thigh.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

250

BRAZII,.

bar, or to the east of the shaft, called to

it

[chap. xxv.

everyone's atten-

tion.

The mine was

utterly

new

me, and most unlike the dirty

to

labyrinths of low drifts and stifling galleries,

down which

often crawled like one of the reptilia or the

quadrumana.

The

feet of breadth,

mipa-

vertical height,

1134

feet,

and the 108

ralleled in the annals of mining, suggested a cavern, a

quarry, a

mammoth
trifle

huge stone

cave raised from the horizontal to the per-

Looking eastward, where the lode

pendicular.

bends up a

I haye

is

and

slo^jed

northwai'ds, before us arises a black ascent,

besprinkled with lights, glittering like glow-worms upon a

embankment

tall

some scattered over the lower levels, some fixed
higher up, with their lamps of Ricinus * oil dimmed by distance.
;

Candle-biu'ning, the usual test, detected nothing abnormal in the

atmosphere

;

the air was free, the ventilation Avas excellent, and

Eight
would have been the merry
song of the stope-cutter and the boisterous mirth of the borer.
Presently they were silenced, the Superintendent made a short
speech, and proposed the A-isitors this was received with loud
vivas and cheers that sounded strange in the abysm, in the bowels
of the earth.
Of course our feet were " wiped," and physically
speaking they wanted wipmg.
The floor was wet, the mud Avas
slippery, and locomotion seemed like an ascent of the Pyramids,
although the ground was j^retty level considering.
Then turning to the west we ascended a stope or two leading from
the Cachoeira to the Balm Mine
here was a trickhng streamlet
which in a few days Avould have drowned out the old men.f The
water is slightly ferruginous, perhaps from contact with the iron
sulphuretted hydrogen can be found only after blasting.

pleasant to

the shareholder's ear

;

;

tools

;

it

Testing

does not, however,
its

much

temperature at various

Gordon found the water

at the

oxydise or corrode metals.
successive

bottom of the

horizons,

mme

Mr.

colder than

that on the surface.
He carefully rejected the elements of error
nrismg from animal temperature, lights, fires, and the higher
temperature VA-ithin the sumps. Many observations have induced

him

to question the existence of that inexplicable

Inconceivable caloric formerly located by
* lu tliis mine all the works under the
surface are lighted with Ricinus oil.
+ " Os Antigos," as they call those who

and indeed

M. Cordier and

others

preceded the gi-andfathers or the
gi-andfathers of the present race.

gi-eat-

—

DOWN THE

CHAP. XXV, 1

at

the centre of the earth.*

MINE.

251

It is always a i)leasure to see the

old, the highly respectahle, the

"time-honoured truths" of

childhood shattered and cast to the winds.

oiu'

It is satisfactory to

we do not know everything about the solar parallax and
we have even something to explore about the moon. It is a

learn that
that

;

;

treat to unlearn that, despite the teachings of Artesian wells

and

we

are
and of thermal springs,
inhabiting a kind of mundane egg-shell, a solid crust, an orange

of volcanoes,

of earthquakes

bomb stuffed with imposMr. Glaisher's adventurous balloon ascents have
severely damaged Humboldt's ratio of thermal decrement in
elevation.
Let us hope that IMr. Gordon may unmask that pretentious caloric, lend aid to the solid rockj-^ skeleton theory, and
skin of badly

sible

conducting matter, a

contents.

thus light up another dark place for the rational eye.!

As we went forwards the roof of the Cachoeira, especially about
the sump and at the middle section, seemed to impend considerOf late,
ably, with protuberances which excited astonishment.
part of the northern hanging wall has been somewhat baulk and

unsound, whilst

much

killas

has appeared in the southern side

Yet the

thus the lode has somewhat contracted and diminished.
inherent strength of the roof

is

judged to need

little

artificial

we were shown the remnant of the bar or tongue of
which separated the two great mines, and which was
long left as a prop. For the future the capel and other valueless
matter will be left in the " Cachoeira," thus avoiding the trouble
support, and

killas slate

* The gradual increment of lieat is supposed greatly to vai^ according to the
nature of the rock.
The difference in fact
has been stated to be as much as 12 to .35
1°
(Cent.).
metres per
We may assume
ilie average of 1° Fahr. = | Centigi-ade
at 70 feet— 54 feet (Ansted), to 9 O' feet
(Herschel).
A mile of depth usually represents 117° (F.) = 65° C.
at two miles

20°'65 (Cent.), and tliis gives
Temp. 7 metres below surface. 20°'65
27°"22
at bottom of mine
,,

water boils, at 2700 metres it becomes
steam, at -3000 metres sulphur would be
fused, at 6500 metres lead woixld be melted,
at 9 miles all substances arc red-hot, and
at 30—40 miles all matter is in fu.sion or
What then can there be
incandescence.
300— 3000 miles below the surface ?
According to Lt. Moraes (p. 42), the
surface temperature of Morro Velho is
75° (F. ), and at the bottom 81° (F. ), and
he remarks that the general opinion repreHe makes the
sents it to be veiy hot.
mean annual temperature of Moito Velho

to

;

Difference

.

.

.

.

.

(i.e.,

—6

40'" "27

7)

gives

1°

(C.)

to

(C.)

6°'57 (C.)

The depth being then 264^ '6
or

(C.)

271"'
of

depth.

f Mr. Gordon is, I imderstand, about
publish the results of his labours,
]\Ieanwhile, he kindly gave me leave to use
an extract, which will be found in Appen-

The figures sliow great
dix 1 (Section B).
irregularity both in the water and in the air.
Dr. Julius Schvarez, the Hungarian anthropologist, has also, I believe, attacked
"internal heat," and has supplanted the
doctrine of a central fire by an entirely
new argument. (Anthrop. Review, .Tuly
The skeleton
October, 1867, p. 372.)
theory, with pores and cavities containing
fiery fluid, is, I believe, gaining ground.

—

—

;

THP: HlflHLANDS

252

OF THE BRAZIL.

[rHAP. xxv.

and expense of raising it, and utilizing it in i^arts of the excava-=
where liitherto for safety much tiinher has been expended.
And now looking west, the huge Palace of Darkness, dim in
long perspective, wears a tremendous aspect
above us there
seemed to be a skj^ without an atmosphere. The walls were
tion,

;

either black as the grave or reflected slender raj-s of light glancing

from the polished Avatery surface, or were broken into monstrous
projections, half revealing and half concealing the cavernous gloomy
Despite the lamps, the night pressed upon us, as

recesses.

it

were, with a weight, and the only measure of distance was a spark
here and there, glimmering like a single star.
Distinctly Dan-

tesque was

tlie

gulf between the

threatening every

moment

to

huge mountain

sides, apparently

Everything, even the accents

fall.

of a familiar voice, seemed changed, the ear was struck by the
sharp click and dull thud of the hammer upon the boring iron,

and this upon the stone each blow invariably struck so as to
keep time with the wild chaunt of the borer. The other definite
sounds, cmiously compHcated by an echo, which seemed to be
;

within reach, were the slush of water on the subterranean path,
the rattling of the gold stone thrown into the kibbles, and the
crash of chain and bucket.

kobolds

Through this Inferno gnomes and
about in ghostly fashion, half-naked figures

glided

muffled by the mist.

Here dark bodies, gleaming with beaded
hung by chains in what seemed frightful positions
there they swung like Leotard from place to place
there they
swarmed up loose ropes like the Troglodytes there they moved
over scaffolds, which, even to look ixp at, would make a nervous
heat-drops,

;

;

temperament

dizzy.

This one view amply repaid

us.

It

was

a

place
'\^niere

but the

thonghts were many, and where words were few:

effect will

remain upon

tlie

mental retina as long as our

brains do their duty.

At the end

of two hours

we

left

this cathedral'd cavern

thick-ribbed gold, and we were safely got like ore to grass.

of

;

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE BIRTH OF THE BABE.
loiigu'

Ambages, sed sumnia

We

seqixar fastigia rerum.

have just seen the stone sent up

The whole

hy the kibble

fillers.

now

process between the lode and the ingot will

be

under the charge of the Reduction Officer, Mr. Dietsch, whose
department employs some 550 hands.
We will accompany
that "

Good Lord deliver us," and witness the birth of the babe.
The embryo is placed in the tram-waggons connecting the
mines witli the spalling-fioors. The latter are four in number,

long airy sheds, completely guarded from rain and sea.
begins the

fu'st

floor is allotted a feitor or overseer,

Here

To each

process of mechanical pulverization.

and under him the sledgers

The women,
fist.
who are four to one man, then reduce it to the size of moderate
macadam, about 1 j inch square, small enough to pass through the
hoppers feeding the stamp coffers. Their hammers are longbreak the larger pieces to the size of a man's

handled, with lozenge-shaped steel heads, weighing 1|
first-class

woman

breaks a ton and

a-lialf

a

da}-.

lb.,

They

and

a

easily

learn to "pick," to separate the rich from the poor ore: the
latter

has no metaUic lustre, no iridescence.

An

over-abundance

is employed in
up one or two wooden fmmels, con-

of slate and quartz at times causes delay, which
rest.

Each

spaller

must

fill

taining 16 cubic feet, and during the six days a supply for the

seventh

is

accmnulated.

the industrious can finish

The men labour
theii*

only whilst

it

is light

tasks on Friday evening, and thus

AVomen and fresh hands
"knock off," if they please, at

they have the Saturday for themselves.
are spared, and they can usually

2 P.M.

They

remedied with

suffer
fans.

from the stone dust, but

this could be easily

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

254

At

fii'st

sight 350

[chap. xxvi.

hands engaged iu ispalhng seems a sad waste

But it is not easy to imj)rove upon the system, which
The roads, it has been shown, are unfit
has lasted smce 1767.
The use of steam has been rejected,
to bear heavy machmery.
" Bagg's steam spalling
water being by no means j^lentiful.
hammer" was tried, and failed. Now the Superintendent is about
labour-saving contrivance, "Blake's stone
to set up another
machine,"*
of wliich we saw a portion in the square,
crushing
of j)ower.

Barbacena.

For fm-ther pulverization the sj)alled stone must be stamped.
The amount treated at head-quarters is 200 210 tons per diem,
more in the rains, less in the dry season. Half an ounce of gold
I

—

per ton pays, and the present rate, nearly one ounce per ton,

(100/.)

and

300 tons of

is

Also, I have said, to clear off expenses

highly remunerative.
stuff

must every

to give dividends, 400.

da}^ be raised from the mine,
This gives a fair view of the work

done.

The poor
The

we have

tramway to the
thrown into a row of wooden
funnels, which, opening below, discharge into tram-waggons
working in a timnel. These carts are shunted uj) to the Stamp
Passes, and are tipped over into enclosed sHdes of wood, each a
general reseiToii-, which, assisted by a central "lifter," feeds all
The Passes are regulated b}its stamps for a day and a fraction.
hoppers, with weighted arms acting as springs.
The stamps,
divided into sections of three heads each, are worked by the
simj)le old water-wheel t and horizontal axle, whose cogs or cams
raise, 60 to 78 times per minute, upright shafts ranged in row
Praia.

like

ore, as

rich si^alled stuff

seen, goes by a
is

capstan bars, or the pestles of an African housewife.
The Brazilians

stoue-eater,

on

call it

account

' •

of

Cuuiedoi-, " or
its

moveable

limb or jaw.

+ The ore stamped between Mai'ch and
August, 1866, amounted to 29,037 tons.
During the 6 preceding months, 29,542
tons.

During the 6 months ending August,
1865, 30,268 tons.
In June, 1867, some 6020 tons were
stamped.
+ The wheels vary from 35 to 50 feet in
diameter.
There are 10 at head-quai-ters,
viz., 6 for the stamps, 1 for the triturators, and 1 for amalgamation.
The stamps
arc iu batteries of ?, each, and 4 at the

Praia.

Each

At head-quarters there are 6

sets

135 heads), named the Addison, Herring, Powles, Lyon, Cutesworth, and Sii(or

saunah.
heads).

At the Praia are 2 batteries
Thus the total is 191 heads,

(i><>

dis-

tributed into 61 batteries,
The Praia has 2 large "pressed wheels,"
upon whose centre the water impinges.
The larger, 32 feet in diameter, and 9 feet
1 inch wide, drives the Hocking stamps,
32 heads and 2 triturators
the smaller,
26 feet x 7 feet 8 inches, works the
Illingsworth, of 24 heads and 4 aiTastres.
The Praia stamps arc not self -feeding,
)nanual labour docs the hojtper's work,
;

cji.vi'.

THE BIRTH UF THE BABE.

XXVI.]

"lifter" has a
six arrobas

234—288

;

"head"

255

of country iron weighing

when new

live to

the rest of the instrument gives a total weight of

and each head costs 26$000 to 27 $000. After
three months or so they become much worn, and are transferred,
like the short breeches of the elder brother, to the Cadet at the
Praia.
The Superintendent has imported steel heads from
England; each one valued at 106 $300, and not one lasted out
the common "chapas de ferro" of Minas iron.
The "cotter" or rectangular trough in which the stamps work
is a wooden box lined with iron to receive a blow of 380 lbs.
it
is 26 to 30 inches long by 1 foot to 18 inches wide. All are protected
fore and aft by cojjper grates, with 6000 to 10,000 holes to the
square inch, and raised 20 to 23 inches above the coft'er, to
prevent the fine powder passing away: from a short distance you
see the grey dust and water surging up around the stamp head.
lbs.,

;

A

horizontal trough drops tln-ough a hole above the grating

cient water to keep the charge wet in each battery

;

suffi-

once a week

must be removed, and
washed out. The stamp laboiu-ers are divided into
two gangs, working day and night by alternate weeks.
the grates, which are liable to clogging,
the gold sand

This system of stamping loses free gold, which, when finely
is too light to sink, and fioats off with the slimes.
Mr. Thos. Treloar, whose experience at Cocaes, Gougo Soco, and
laminated,

other places, entitles his opinion to respect, has declared that 7

— 8 per cent, of this thin
sole

remedy

plate gold disappears.

deposition takes place.

is to re-treat till

Now commences

Evidently the

The

the concentration process.

cofier-sup-

ph'ing trough also gives water enough to wash the stamped and

down the strakes. These substitutes for the
earth trenches and " canoas," are wooden planes 26 feet long,
pulverized matter

divided by ribs into shallow

compartments, 3 feet long by 14

inches wide, with an angle of inclination of 1 inch per foot.

compartment is floored with an oblong of
skin, or blanket

when hide
The

Brazilian grass sod.

fails

:

it

partially

Each

tanned bullock's

takes the place of the old

tanner}- is near to

and north of the

Ribeirao Bridge.

The

principle is that the heavy but invisible gold in the slaty

sand adheres to the skin, whilst the lighter earthy

i)articles are

washed away. The hau' is against the course of the water, but the
little transverse lines of wrinkle, which time and use trace upon the

THE HiGHLANi)S OF IKE BRAZIL.

256

surface, are of

Each ton

more importance.

[chap. xxvi.

of ore passing over

the skins, leaves from one -third to one -half of a cubic foot of rich
sand, and each cuhic foot produces on an average 2 ounces of
gold.

For the most part women attend the strakes and do the light
work of watching the machinery, trimming the skins, and regulating the water
if tliis be neglected, the sand becomes clogged,
and the gold floats over. The skins are divided into three upper
or head skins, two middles, and two tails.
The former, being the
richest, are washed every two hours in one of the seven head sand
boxes, whose keys are kept by the feitors.
The large chest is
divided into three compartments the liides are first washed in the
two side chambers they are then drawn through the " swimbox " or middle space
and finally they are restored to the
strakes.
The middle and tail skins are washed every four hours,
and the latter must be re-straked * before the}' are rich enough to
be amalgamated with the head-skins.
;

:

;

;

Thus
coarser

the
stuft'

finer

sand

is

ready for amalgamation.

that passes over the strake-skins

30 per cent, of gold.

still

It is carried doAvn b}^ the

But the

contains some

launders to an

ingenious self-acting apparatus, called a separator or classificator,

adopted about four years ago, and much preferred to the old
" concentrating ties." It is a wooden trough 12 feet long hj 2^
wide, with four funnels perforated below

washed

is

gradually deposited

:

in these the stuff to be

the heaviest particles settle in the

;

most watershed
the lightest in the last,
where there is least, and the residue of inijDalpable slime runs
tlu'ough an open trapeze-shai^ed trough into the common di-ain,
first,

wdiere there is

;

the Eibeirao.

The

four tunnels discharge their contents into grinding circles

of wood, stone paved, and about 8 feet in diameter.

the " arrastres " or

triturators,

f

These are

protected by their sheds.

A

water-wheel works two horizontal arms, which drag by strong
* Tliey are couceutratetl in
tailingboxes," large troughs filled with water
these, when the bottoms are opened, wash
the sands down the hides once more.
The
boxes are in \>a.\vs, one being closed for
washing the hides whilst the other discharges the sand.
'

'

;

t Drag

from

"anastrar," to
draw.
In IMexico the rude contrivance
was Tised for amalgamation, here it serves
stones,

There are three sets, the
only to triturate.
Routh, which receive the washings of the
this is a
Addison and Herring stamps
small building to the south-west of the
main spalling floor. There ai-e also the
saw-mill arrastres in a lower detached
building
they re-work the sand only when
;

;

The thii-d
not employed in plank-cutting.
arc the amalgamation aiTastrcs, attachcil
to the amalgamation wheel.

:

THE BIRTH OF THE BABE.

CHAF. XXVI.]

chains four stones, each weighing a ton
for

this

quartz

as

purjiose,

:

the lode-stone

is

grind well.

not

does

257

preferred

After a

thorough trituration the sand passes over the arrastres-strakes,

and

collected into tailing boxes,

is

is

then prepared for the Amalga-

mation House.

But even
further
this

till

Works

"

after this

reduce

second process

A dam Avas

the

refuse

containing

thrown across the Bibeirao to give a

The Arrastres sand was run along
500

was found necessary

it

disseminated gold
1855 was throAvn into the stream: in 1856 the "Praia
were begun, and in 1858 they were ready for use.

to

feet long, 1 foot A^ide,

and 9 inches deep.

It

taken up by a leat i^assing through a tunnel in the

which stands Mr. Smyth's bungalow, and
Here
by launders to the lower works.
of concentrating

ties

that

separate

and from 160 to 170 cubic
livered per minute.
The sand
stuft",

of water.

fall

the right bank in a flume

feet

finally it is carried
it

in a

falls

coarse

the

was then
hill upon
series

from the

of sand-water

fine

are de-

now re-stamped with

is

a

Formerly CascalliogTavel
which contains quartz and iron
sand and alluvial
dei)osits from the Bibeirao, were employed. Now they use quartz
and Idllas in pieces about 2 inches long, and they find the
harder substance to assist the grinding.

—

—

unjjyritic quartz the best.

rich " head sand,"

which we have seen
from the stone matrix, enters uj)on another
It is carefully kept moist, and defended from the atmosphase.
phere in wash tanks under w^ater
thus the flouring and
powdering of the mercury are prevented. It is carried down from
the boxes to the Amalgamation House in wooden bowls the
carriers are usually about twenty, with a reinforcement on
This is wholesome work in the open air but in the
^Mondays.
further process the youngest and stoutest hands are used, as

At the main works the

partially disentangled

;

:

;

" washing" doubtless affects the health.

Inclined planes for con-

sand and other economical processes have been
the Supermtendent, however, sensibly cares most
proposed
to show a good balance-sheet, and has little inducement to try
veying

the
;

expensive and precarious experiments.

The head sand

is

first

deposited for measurement in boxes,

each holding 16 cubic feet. Of these there are 16, and each
connects by a funnel with its Freyberg or amalgamating barrel,
VOL.

I.

S

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

258

[chai-.

xxvi.

The sand is watered, and a small
tlie same.*
wheel causes the barrel to revolve for half an hour at the rate of
13 14 revolutions per minute. The " Freyberg " is then opened
if the paste be too wet the mercury will not mix well with the
whose contents are

—

sand

the other extreme will divide the quicksilver too finely.

;

When

the mass

is

of proper consistenc}', 50

are added to each barrel, wliich

is

— 60

lbs. of

mercury t

expected to contain 32 oimces

of gold.

Formerly the barrel process was continued 48 hours before the
disengaged particles of concentrated sand were brought into complete contact with the mercmy. Now the average is from 24 to 26
hours the shorter time is in the hotter weather, and the richest
gold requires the most work. After 24 hours a sample from the
In
barrel is washed in the batea to see if any free gold remains.
Brazilian mines the first " bateada " is always given for good luck
:

to strangers.

When

amalgamated, the muddy and partially liquid mixture

is

discharged from the barrel into the receiving trough placed immediately below,

The

object is

and here

now

it

sinks,

freemg

itself

from the water.

gradually to separate the mercury and

amalgam

from the mineral residue, the sand and the other impurities.
The mass is washed down into a ''lavadero"- or " saxe," a
machine composed of 10 troughs, each 16 inches long and 17
deep, reciprocating and working in wheels with a to-and-fro
horizontal motion.
Each compartment is charged with a bed of
mercury, from 340 to 460 lbs., forming a stratum about 1 inch in
depth.
Two or three inches above the quicksilver is a passage
through which the residuary sand and water are expelled by the
movement. The free mercury rises and may be drawn off for use,

amalgam sinks by its greater specific weight.
compartment will separate in 8 hours its 16 cubic feet.t

whilst the

The
*

Some

fourth operation
six different

dolly-tubs, &c.,

liave

modes

been

is

" cleaning up," or sex^arating the gold

— iron pans,

tried,

Each

but the

revolving barrel has finally been preferred
the others gave inferior results, with a
greater loss of mercury.
+ In 1846, the monthly loss of quicksilver was 35
70 lbs.
In 1866, the con;

—

sumption was 1091 lbs., or 39 ozs. per
cubic foot of sand amalgamated.
In May,
1867, 5200 lbs. have been used in amalgam,
giving a loss of 95 lbs., or
'41 lbs. per

ciibic

foot.

Tlie

price of

quicksilver

at

only 1$500 jier lb., and it
is cheaijer to throw away the sick stuff
than to treat it with sodium,
+ The sand washed out of the last saxe
compartment runs over strakes, and here
!Morro Velho

is

the hides arrest stray portions of amalgam
and "liss;" the latter is composed of
various oxides and pearlish mercury, finely
divided by the sulphate of the iron peroxide and the free sulphuric acid.

THE BIRTH OF THE BABE.

CH.vr. XXVI.]

259

this is done three times each month
from the amalgain
12
after " divisions," longer or shorter periods of 10 to
days.
The upper part of the saxe is removed, boiling
water is poured into each compartment, and thus the metal is
:

more

Then

easily separated.

the surface of the

amalgam

is

covered ^ith a stratum of coarse sand, from ^ to ^ an inch thick.
After the hot water has been thrown out the sand is easily

skimmed

and the quicksilver becomes

off,

clean.

The amalgam

then by strong twisting filtered through canvas cones of the
stoutest Russian linen like coifee stramers, with stout iron rings

is

round the mouths

the bags are subsequently treated to recover

:

The

a nttle gold.

liquid quicksilver is thus forced out into a

vessel readj' prepared

:

the metal

is

considered pure, but minute

That which remains behind
impm'e with mineral sand. Portions of the paste weighing 1-1
15 lbs. are rubbed in Wedgewood mortars Avith boiling
water, which softens the mercurial alloy, and with native soap,
which removes the impurities. Mercury is then added, the fluid
amalgam is poured from pan to pan, both being of ii'on heated,
and the surface dross or scum thus thrown up to the surface is
removed. Boihng water and soap are reapplied till impmities
disappear, and the metal looks bright with a silvery lustre.
Now balls of the pasty amalgam, weighing 15 ounces to 2 lbs., are
kneaded into the shape of eggs, and are squeezed, wrung, and
beaten in chamois leather till no free metal appears. The residue
is a solid containing 42 per cent, of argentiferous gold * and
57 58 per cent, of mercur}^, with some impure matter, chiefly
inspection shows finely diffused gold.
is

still

—

—

mineral sand.

After this the baUs, carefully weighed, are re-

torted in the usual

manner

;

the operation

is

completed after six

or seven hours.

But the gold

is

proper shape.

tlie

still

impure with iron and arsenic, nor has it
form of treatment the

—

It calls for the fifth

metallurgical.

The precious ore
made by M. Payen
alloy,

and ^

proportions.

A

lb.

It

is

now melted in
Each

of Paris.

is

then placed in an

—

were built near the Amalgamation
They contain two wind-furnaces

House.

is

charged with

12^^ lbs. of

of flux, borax, and bicarbonate of soda in equal

*
few years ago the proportion of tlie
precious metal was only 37 to 62
63.
+ In 18(32 a small laboratory and an assay
office

crucibles of refractory clay

air furnace t

heated by

(furnos altos) of good solidity, lined with
plates, two cupel furnaces of
masoniy, one dry bath, one gold melting
room, and one wcighiug-room, separate.
cast-iron

A

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

260

[chap. xxvi.

chimney or stack 26 feet high secures the degrees
Complete fusion is effected in about
The crucible * is taken up with tongs, and the
poured like a bar of soap into an oblong mould

charcoal, and a

of temiierature required.

45 minutes.
golden fluid

is

of cast iron previously

warmed

to expel moisture,

and

slightly

greased.

Thus the babe

is

born and cradled.

The

It is born, however, with a caul.

sldn is black with the

which have dissolved the impure matter of
the golden charge.
Tliis surface is knocked off with the hammer,
and the bar is found to have lost, from the crucible and other
causes, from 6 to 8 oitavas, or J per cent, of its original weight.
slag of the fused salts,

The

ingots are cast three times per month, and 14 per diem

fair

is

work.

Each weighs 1600

oitavas,

and assuming

per oitava, the value will be 5601
And now the birth must be sent home.

this at

7s.

month the bars

are

taken to the

there weighed by the Reduction officer

Superintendent.

After each second

Company's

m

The}' are then screwed

office,

and are

the presence of the

down

in

small solid

hard yellow wood " vinliatico," each case
containing tlu'ee bars, and sealed with the Comjianj-'s seal.
The small packages are stowed away in as many mail-trunks,
and are committed to the " Gold Troop."
This is commanded by Mr. George Morgan, Jun., an experienced traveller, for whose kindness to my wife, on her return, I am
boxes of the

fine

most grateful.
She would not have hesitated to travel
accompanied only by unarmed blacks
there are few places
:

* After 3

worn

— 4 meltings the

cracihles are

then crushed, and the
gold in the little cracks of the material,
and the fine globules on the surface of the
porous clay, are recovered.
t The dry way is used in the carefully
conducted assays necessary to discover the
"loss in i>rocess," and the value of the
ore treated during the divisions.
The first
step is to "sample," a delicate and important matter, unjustifiably neglected by
the unscientific Cornish miner.
Three
times a day, with intervals of four hours, 20
cubic inches of stuff, taken from each coffer,
are placed iii the barrels till the mineral
out, they are

particles deposit themselves.
The " separations," or specimens of the different lodes,
are inspected at the assay oflice after every
division.

The sample

is

dried in a sand-

bath, and a charge of two ozs. is weighed
off.
It then receives tlie flux (fundente),
500 grs. of red oxide of lead, two ozs.
bicarbonate of soda, one oz. borax, one oz.

common

salt, and a little charcoal powder.
Fusion is effected in an earthen crucible,
with a small iron rod, that causes the lead
to remain ductile, and the arsenic to

separate from the sulphur, and collect at the
top.
The operation is always checked by
a second sample.
When its contents have
been liquified in the fusion furnace, they
are poured into an iron mould, where the
scorite of the flux and the metalloids and
minerals, arsenic, sulphur, iron, aluminium, silicium, and others, separate themselves.
Finally, the cupel (cadinha) and
mufile are used, and the button (culote) of
argentifercnis gold is the sample requii-ed.

THE BIRTH OF THE BABE.

CHAP. XXVI.]

where this can be done with perfect

safety,

2ul

even in civilized

America.

Mr. Morgan

is

armed, and

who have permission

is

escorted by two Tropeiro-guards,

carry pistols

to

;

the rest are drivers, with

no weapons but their knives.

Nothing could be easier than to
scatter the little escort
a few shots from any hill-side would
throw all the mules into confusion, and much treasure might be
taken without bloodshed. That no such attempt has ever been
;

made

to plunder speaks very highly of

cially in a

country where the police

related that,

many

is

Mineiro honesty, espe-

merely nominal.

It is

years ago, a highwajonan was captm'ed after a

short, successful career of bandittism

;

he was sent to Pdo de

Janeiro, ostensibly for judgment, but he was accidentally shot on

the

road.

His death produced an excellent

effect

;

had he

reached Eio he would have escaped upon the same principle that
causes Big Elk or Spotted Dog, after scalping a few dozen whites,

and flunkeyed at Washington.
the babe embarks for England.
It had better
have remained in the Brazil, where such small population is

to be feted

Thus housed,
far

much

wanted.

CHAPTER

XXVII.

THE WHITE MINER AND THE BROWN MINER.
" No flourishing and in'osi^erous community of the different races of the European
family has ever existed in a lower latitude than 3G°." J/?-. Cran-fitrd, Trans.
Etlino. Soc, vol. i., part 2, p. 3G-1:.

—

It

may be

said with truth that as a field for the white

man no

comitry equals the Brazil.

In colonial days the pride of the
people gave away their daughters to the Portuguese paupers,
pedihus qui venerat albis, but who could prove gentility. In later
times Eiu'ojDean clerks and mechanics have intermarried as a rule
with the " first families." In this most democratic of empii'es,
in tliis " monarchy fenced round \ai\\ democratic institutions,"
disguised as an empire,"

this "republic
free

men, are equals,

all

white men, not

socially as well as politically.

all

All are, to

use the Spanish saying, "as noble gentlemen as the king, but
not so rich." The aristocracy of the sldn is so strong despite
the governmental apophthegm " all men are equal"
that nothing

—

can make

—

its absence.*
Every "branco" is as good as
upon the same principle that every scion of

U2) for

his neighbour,

Basque-land

has

an

equal

title

to

" gentlemanship."

Tliis

from the presence of an inferior
race and a servile caste.
And thus it comes that society knows
two divisions, and two onl}-, free man and slave, or synonymously
white man f and black man. Hence here, as in the United States,
we observe the unnecessary insolence with which the proletaire
from Europe delights to assert his independence. I have been
addressed by a runaway English seaman whom I had never seen,
naturally, ine\itably results

simply thus, " Burtin," &c., kc.
Tlie race in tlie Brazil being greatly
mixed, allusions to colour in general society
are considered to be bad taste.
Strangers,
however, will soon remark that families of

pure white Llood are proud of it beyond
measure.
f "Men branco
my white— is tlie
civil address used by Indians and Africans.

"—

;

THE WHITE MINER AND THE BROWN MINER.

CHAP, xxvii.]

111

the great Atlantic cities of the Brazil, and these only are,

as a rule,

known

to foreigners, there

market where competition
Liberal

Not

partj^^,

there

is

money

be

are sections of the labour

flourishes,

and where, thanks

liis

or abiht3^

specialty

to the

a great and increasing jealousy of strangers.

so in the interior and in the small towns.

honest hardworkmg
of

2f.3

man get on so well
The services of a

Nowhere can an

with such a

minimum

useful hand, whatever

or trick, vnll be bid for at once,

highest possible value, and wall always remain in

and

at

demand

the

and
it is simply his own fault if employment does not lead on to
fortune, and to what we may call rank.
Convinced of this fact,
whenever I hear a foreigner complain that he has failed in the
Brazil, and rail against the people and their mstitutions, it is
proof positive to me that the countr}' has every right to complain
of hun in fact that he is a ''ne'er do weel," that he drinks, or he
he is incorrigibly dishonest or finally, to be chariis an idler
This is unhappily far from
table, that he is an impossible man.
;

—

;

;

being the usual belief;* but

my

personal experience of nearly

which I have studied every phase of society
between the palace and the cottage, entitles me to form an independent opinion.
MoiTO Yelho alone will supply many instances of men who
came out as simple miners and mechanics, and Tvho by industry,
sobriety, and good conduct, unaided by education or talent, have
risen to positions which in an older country could not be achieved
Some have gone forth from it to become
in a single generation.
superintendents of mining companies others are local capitalists,
and there are many instances of success on a smaller scale.
three years, diu'ing

;

At the great mine, besides the
eighty-six English miners,

and

oflicers,

fifty-five

there are (June, 1867)

workmen and mechanics

the grand total of whites, including families,

is

343. f

Contracts

are made in England, usually for six years, renewable by consent
The wages of miners and mechanics
of both contracting parties.
vary fi'om £S to ^GIO per month of twenty-five worldng days

men

of superior sldll

command more.

The outward

passage,

enough, to exaggerate the jealousy of the
people, and to complain of a combination
But let the complainers try
against them.
any European country, and they v.-ill find, I

few fewer, than in tlie Brazil. Trades
unions, and other rank groT\i,hs of overpopulation, are of coui-se here unknown,
+ In Appendix 1, Section C, the reader
will find a "General Summaiy of Station

am

List " for June, 1867.

* Strangers

are

disposed,

naturally

convinced, more obstacles in many, in

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—

THE HIGHLANDS OP THE BRAZIL.

266

[chap, xxvii.

others dispersed about the Empire, shoukl take the
prefer one settlement of

3000 to ten of 300

hint and

The apathy

souls.

that haunts the Anglo- Scandinavian in tropical climates,

here

is

exchanged for an amount of energy inferior only to that of his
normal home-condition liis dipsomania is modified, if not cured,
and,
by occupation and society, excitement and discipline
;

;

finally,

he

as a rule tolerably contented with his exile, because

is

making money, and he may reasonably talk of revisiting the
At any rate he knows that he can go home. Of
course, if he be a wise man,* his home for life will be in the
Brazil, and if he be a good man, he will bring out as many of his

he

is

old country".

friends as he can aftbrd to bring.

Brazil suggests to

must

fii'st

at

to the

The man who

it is

Brown Miner

in the

fails

the grey-headed " full private"

be with some person, and

And now
At
work

me

—the

fault

probably to be found in him.

of "frontal race."

the free Brazilian showed a decided indis])osition to

Morro

Vellio

;

he had never known a regular emploj-er

He

or regular pay, without Avhich no labour market can exist.
disliked the

work

of boring, being- accustomed only to desultory

he had energy or inducement to attempt
In 1846 the proportion of this class was 20*23 in
1852 it had risen to 112*79. It Avas soon found out that a week's
work meant a week's wage, that the labour and the remuneration
were in constant relation then houses were built for them upon
the Company's grounds, and lodging was to be had for 0$500 per

agriculture, if indeed

even that.

;

;

mensem, where a labourer here averages

The
men and

500 per diem.

1$

class increased rapidl}^ to a total of 786, namel}', 734

52 women, who receive a little less pay a few children, despite
the provmcial authorities who in their blindness resisted it, are
employed in light work, such as collecting the tools for reshari^;

The station list for June shows a grtind total of 906
They are employed in the mechanical, the reduction
and other departments, and the borers are now almost exclusively
Like tlieii* white brethren, the}' may work overfree Brazilians.

ening.

souls, t

* Especially a

wise Cornishman, wLo
of his county,
to more hopeful
lands has caused marriage to diminish, the
birth -rate to decline, and mortality to in-

knows the depressed state
where extensive emigi-ation

crease.

+ The
lowing

may be judged by

ratio

figui'es

Officers

...

tlie

:

European labourers
Native

,,

Kegi'O

,,

Total

.

.

.

2521

.

.

.

.

22
143
906
1450

.

fol-

CHAP, xxvii.l

THE WHITE MINER AND THE BROWN MINER.

2G7

time, the day's task being eight hours, which reminds us of the

four eights, the

modern modification

Sunday fowl

of the

in the

" pot-au-feu."
Eight hovu's' work and eight hours' play,
Eight hours' sleep and eight shillings a day.

From

one -half to two-thii'ds of them make one or two extra
The task is two holes per diem, after

days' pay in the week.

which

the}''

own masters

are their

palms, but this

may

the average depth

;

four

is

be modified by the captain on duty according

They work in paii's, assisted by a
boy; the latter holds the "boyer" or borer, an iron varying in
length from one to four feet.
They use the hammer dexterousl}',
and accidents to the hand are rare.

to the nature of the rock.

The

work with much more energy and

free laboiu'ers

ligence than the slaves.
ii'regularity

The

on Sundays,

;

fete

intel-

emploj-ers' chief complaint is their

days and Samts'

daj^s, or

nearty a

third of the jeav, they do nothing but ride about the countrj^,

Among

gamble hard, and "hunt"* women.
has of

late

greatly inci'eased,

3'ears

and

this class drinking

more reasons than

for

one, marriage should be encouraged.
It is not to

be expected that the desultory habits of a

life

and

the customs inherited from generations, can be totally changed
in a few years.

There

is

ample evidence of progress in the

fact

that neither mines nor railways in the Brazil can complain that

labour

hands

Moreover, a race of skilled and practised
growing up, and it takes " comfortably" to the work as

is
is

wanting, t

young men in the tin districts of Cornwall. And the " extraordinary dormant mineral wealth" of the country, once exploited
b}' its possessors, will perpetuate and increase the class. Nothing
now is wanted but a civilised School of Mines.
* " Ca5ar " is the slang Brazilian term.
f I am pleased to see that my energetic
friend, Mr. J. J. Aubertin, Superiuteudent
of tlie Sao Paulo couatiy, has, after a residence of eight years, come to exactly tlie
same conclusion.
"Now on our own railway we cannot truly say that we liave ever
felt

the want of labour

;

yet

when we

first

began there certainly was an indisposition,
generally speaking, to work.
But, Ijy and
by, when one and the other found out that a
week's laliour really meant a week's money,
and that the work was there, and the constant master there too, to pay the money
for the work, then the laliourer began to

comprehend

Ms

told the other

One

real position Letter.

how

the case was,

how

the
remuneration for his toil really glittered in
his hand on pay-day, and how he really
earned his bread and independence
and
very soon disinclination gave place to willing;

and all wanted to come and learn to
work, and get their money as their friends
were doing" (p. 5.
"Eleven Days' Journey in the Province of Sao Paulo. London,
Similarly on the Bahia and S.
1866).
Francisco Railway, where at times between
1858 and 1866 from 3000 to 4000 men were
employed, free labour was rendered necesness,

sary

l)y tlie

tenns of the concession.

THE HiaHLAXD3 OF THE BRAZIL.

263

And

[chap, xxvii.

here we see distinctly before us the extinction of slavery

in this magnificent

The

Empire.

imj^orted negro, the captive,

the outcast, the criminal from Africa, has greatly improved his
o^\'n

by crossing the

lot

But

sea.

which

to the higher race

admitted him he has done incalculable injury, in

many

waj'S,

moral as well as physical, chiefly by prepossessing it against all
labour, and mostly against the best of all labour in a 3'oung

—agriculture.

Where blacks work all work becomes
consequently the people has no " bold peasantry, its
coTintry's pride."
Thus in all lands where the moribund " msti-

country
servile,

tution"

Union

still

as "

is a class known in the Southern
whites," and in the Brazil called " Vadios," or

Ungers, there

mean

—

" Cappadocios" idlers, vagabonds. I am aware that the North
American " mean white" has often been represented meaner than
he is, and that the imj^ortance of his class has been for party
purposes greatly exaggerated, but nothing too strong can be said
It lives sometimes upon the induswhose humanitarian and Catholic sentiments vdll not
drive a vagrant from the door more frequently the professional

against the Vadio family.
trious,

;

ne'er-do-weel can unfortunately

command

the laboui* of one, two,

He

thus a consumer, not a

or a few slaves, male and female.

is

producer, and whilst he increases the population he introduces
into

it

Some

the mp'iad evils of mixed blood.

of these mulatto

households disgrace humanitv.*

But the day

is

fast

approaching wlien the Vadio will be
Ah'eady in the Brazil

compelled to work like other freemen.

there are important branches of material industry in which the
slave is used only as a hard necessity.

As specimens

I

may

quote the mining of diamonds and gold, the navigation of the
great rivers of the interior, and the cattle breeding, which every

becomes more important, especially to the Euroj^ean
In the present phase, I venture to state, the negro is
absolutely requii-ed for agricultiu'e only, and even then he is
merely provisional till immigration from Europe shall have set
in with steady and copious flood.
The great proprietors, some
owning 3000 and 4000 head, look with horror at any sudden and
premature measure that will desolate their immense plantations
3'ear

emigrant.

* Those who deem this language too
severe will consult St. Hil. (III. ii. 242
4).
That excellent a\xthor speaks upon the tes-

—

timony of a liigh Brazilian officer, and
though he WTOte in 1820, the picture is still
true to

life.

CHAP. XXVII.]

THE WHITE MINER AND THE BROWN MINER.

269

They are not
and cane, of tobacco and cotton.
the accounts which reach them from the Southern
United States, and their importance secures to them the conTheir attitude is legitimate, but this
sideration of the country.

of

coffee

reassured

b}^

highly intelligent class will be the

first to hail

the arrival of the

white hand.
of free labour on a large scale will do much
which dates in the Brazil from three centuries.
The great soldier and statesman, Martim Affonso de Souza, with
wonderful political prescience, issued in 1532 an order that " not

The employment

to

remedy an

evil

even to rescue* Indians should white men penetrate into the
interior, without express permission from him or from his

and that such permission should be given with
great circumspection, and only to persons of good repute."
This embargo was unwisely taken off on February 11, 1544,
whilst he was serving in Hindostan, by his wife Donna Anna
Pimental.
The consequence was an immediate dispersion of the
colonists, who scattered themselves over the country between the
Atlantic and the roots of the Andes, from the Plata to the

lieutenants

;

.Amazons, anniliilated the aborigines instead of training them to
labour, and brought in so

many

slaves that

many

a house in Sao

Paulo could number 500 to 1000 head. The good results were
wonderful additions to geography, and immense discoveries of
On the other hand, the white settlers were decentreasure.

was the consequence,
hear
would
not
the sound of a neighand the backwoodsman who

tralised to an extent that semi-barbarism

bour's gun,

left

the wealth of the maritime regions wholly unex-

day the " Serra do Mar," within sight of
it is known to
the ocean, is mostly covered with virgin forests
contain extensive mineral deposits, but in rare cases has any
In the present state of the Empire,
part of them been worked.
centralisation round commanding points, and upon great Imes of

ploited.

Even

to this

;

communication, both of river and
* Resgatai-, in plain English to buy as
I have quoted from p. 70 of the
!Meniorias para a Historia da Capitania

a slave.
'
'

rail, will

be a national benefit.

dc S. Vicente," by the
Gaspar Madre de Deos.

celebrated

Fr.

—

"

;

CHAPTER

XXVIIl.

THE BLACK MINEK.
GENERAL REFLECTIONS BEFORE LEAVING THE MINES.
"

As the Indian is killed by the approach of civilisation, which he resists in vain,
man perishes by that culture to which ho serves as a humble

so the black

instrument."

I

Count Oscar lieicTienhach.

WILL not

or state

(Tela}'

exceptionally

whether race or clmiate,* religion,
combined, give rise to the

to consider

of society,

or

the three

humane treatment

of the slave in the Brazil

:

but I

can pledge myseK to the fact that nowhere, even in oriental
countries, has the "bitter

experience has never shown
slaves,

me

little

know many awful consequences

lately, at Ai'araquara, in the

was

to be

hanged

of gall in

flogging.

My

it.

a case of cruelt}' practised

and I have only heard of one severe

other hand I

negi'o,

draught" so

upon

On

of over-lenity.

the

But

Province of Sao Paulo, Benedicto, a

for the barbarous

murder of

his master

hangman

refused to act, and the criminal has been simply
from the gallows and consigned to the galleys. I often
meet in the chain-gang, literall}- no penalty, a neighbour's slave,
who, working himself into a ^mssion, causelessly stabbed to death
a black, to him miknown, and in presence of many witnesses,
drank, vampire like, his victim's blood he is accompanied by a
brother assassin, who by way of freak Idlled the helpless old
Prior of the Carmo.
It is therefore with some regret and much
astonishment that I read these lines, traced by so well informed

the

shifted

:

* One of Humboldt's good generalizations,
amongst many bad, is that
the facility of
being acclimated seems to be in the inverse
ratio of the difference that exists between
the mean temperature of the torrid zone,
and that of the native country of the tra'

'

who

those

mix

as a

inhabit neighbouring latitudes

nde more

abroad are

whose

intimately, and when
more at home than peoples
removed.
The Eng-

foci are further

veller or colonist who changes his climate.
(Travels, i. chap. 3.)
The distance may

mostly held himself aloof
the Brazilian, like his
forefather the Portuguese, admitted him
to far greater familiai-ity, and the result

be extended in a moral sense to races

was deplorable.

:

lish slaveholder

from the African

:

—

"

THE BLACK MINEE.

xxviii.]

CH.V1'.

271

" Vii'giiiia was a paradise compared with Cuba and Brazil.

a pen *
:

Some touch
mistress,

some gleam of

of softness in the lord,

had

sufficed to

pity in the

keep the very worst planters of English

blood free from the brutalities which Avere daily practised in the

Spanish and Portuguese

From

south."

cities farther

obsolete

consular reports, from the pages of old travellers, and from the
writings of

men who

they heard,

ran through the country, believed everything
M. Jacquemont, described " apres une

and, like

relache de douze jours," in a region eight times larger than

France,

its capital, its

navy,

its

coasting trade, its commerce, its

finances, its government, its society, its servile condition,

But the

cases might doubtless be collected. t

relations

many

between

master and slave are modified by public opuiion, and essentially by
the progress of civihzation.
In the present day the Brazilian
negro need not envy the starving liberty of the poor in most parts
of the civilized world.

The
do

He

so.

there

may

by the unwritten law, many of the

slave in the Brazil has,

rights of a freeman.

is

is

He may

educate himself, and he

regularly catechized, and in

a dail}' religious service.

is

urged to

large plantations

all

If assailed in

life

or limb he

defend himself against his master, or any white man, and an

over-harsh proprietor or overseer alv/ays runs considerable risk

He

of not dying in bed.

married, and the chastity of

is legally

his wife is defended against his owner.

separated from his family

:

the

He

humane

has

little

instincts

fear of being

and the religious

tenets of the people are strongly opposed to this act of barbarity.

He

has every chance of becoming a free

man

manumission

:

is

held to be a Catholic duty, priestly communities are ashamed of
holding slaves, and whenever there is a war the African is bought

and sent

to fight

"New

America,"

*

by the
vol.

ii.

Old usage allows

side of white recruits.

chap.

31.

editor called liim, to be extensively read,
trusted ; and this increases the
measure of his offence.
The crudities and

Has the learned author studied the Black
Code or the Provincial Laws of the English slave islands ?
Even in 1815 Prince

alxsurdities

Max

after a sedentary

could say of the slaves in the Brazil,
" on les traite generalement assez doucement.
t In this way one of the greatest offenders was the late Mr. Cliarles B. Mansfield (" esquire and JI.A. of Clare Hall,
Cambridge"); his liveliness, his trenchant
style, his John Bullism, and the ample evidence of good intention in all the harm he
did, caused the "noble worker," as his

believed,

of

an untravelled man, who.
life,

and a month

in the

New

World, had the audacity to ^vl-ite a
chapter (No. 4) headed "Brazil: Crime
Political

—

Economy

— Colonization —

Sla-

very Commerce," have been ably answered
in an Ensaio Critico by Sr.A. D. de Pascual,
Rio de Janeiro, Laemmert, 1861.
But of
the thousands who imbibe the poison how
few will oven see or hear of the antidote ?

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

272

[chap, xxviii.

b}' his labour, and to invest his
manumitting his wife and children.
I have scanty space for so important and far leading a subject
But it may be briefly remarked that
as slavery in the Brazil.*
educated
man in the country who would not
hardly
an
there is

him

to

purchase his liherty

l^ropert}' in

right willingly see

it

abolished

if

he could find for

a substitute.

it

All look forward to the great day of immigration and free labour.
All, too, are

aware of the fact that immigration and slavery can
It is the same with Englishmen who, through-

hardly co-exist.

out the Empii'e, except in the great cities where they can hire
servants, buy,

and hold, and

let,

and hire

slaves, despite the late

And

for the

doomed by

philan-

venerable Lord Brougham's absui'd Act of 1843. t
benefit of the wretches with oxidised skins,

thropy to die in thousands at Ashanti, Dahome and Benin, not
to mention a hundred other African Aceldamas and Golgothas, I
venture to hope that the black continent

may

also be admitted to

Under all circumstances the negro
the boon of immigration.
" coolie " temporarily engaged in the Brazil will benefit himself:
confined to field work, not admitted to the house, and looked

upon

as a stranger in the land, he will benefit others.

Some

years ago,

when

the "NegTo's Complaint"

* The curious reader will find an excellent paper on "the Extinction of Slavery
in Brazil," from a practical point of view,

written by Sr. A. M. Perdigao Malheiro,
Kichard
translated by my friend Mr.
Austin, F.A.S.L., and imblished in the
Anthropological Review, No. 20, Jan. 1868.
The author, whose studies entitle his views
to the greatest respect, estimates the slaves

number between the extremes 1,400,000
In 1850 the
and 2,500,000, in 1864.

to

These figures
w;is 4,000,000.
ought effectually to lay the angry spirit of
however,
the negroes
If,
emancipation.
must be killed off, why, then set them at
The measiu-es at present to be
once free.
adopted are to liberate all the slaves be-

number

longing to ecclesiastics, to tax heavily all
and vagrants, to prevent large
slaveholders being employed in high posicity slaves

under government, and to satisfy
Europe by fixing a definite time for the

tions

Lastly, we
problem.
observe that Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher calculate an emancipation of one million of slaves in the fifteen years between
1850 and 1806, whilst the ijroductions of
the country have increased at the rate of
30 per cent.
final solution of the

may

f

It surprises

me

fact,

haunted

to read in Prince

220) the cool way in
how M. Freyress buys
Indian boy.
This was
enslave one born free.
(i.

and deplorable

still

Max

which he recounts
and carries oflF an
really a vile act to

"It

is

a startling

and one that

lated to lower our opinion of

is

calcu-

human nature,

by those
leave their own country
animated with the best and most generous
principles respecting their fellow creatures,
of the maxims and practices of hardened
slaveholders."
(Notes on the Slave Trade,
witness
Euroijeans

the rapid adoption

to

by W.

G-.

who

London, 1850.)

Oiiseley,

more philosophical

to seek

It is

and explain the

cause than to be startled at or to deplore
facts— simply signs that we do not read

them

aright.

man

For

my

leave England

part,

whenever

I see

the first time
the normal superlative and
filled with
transcendental principles about holding
jjersons to service, I expect a reaction to
set in, and that his negroes will soon complain of his remarkable and um-easonable
cruelty.
For this cause, partly, the slaveholder in Soiith Carolina did not like the
a

"Yankee"

overseer,

for

;

:

THE BLACK MINER.

CHAr. xxviii.]

273

when " bhack brother " was a mere catch-word and
catch-pence in England, when the negro of sentiment and theoryhad worsted and ousted the negro of reason and practice, and when

the public ear,

on this point, and perhaps on this point only, blatant Ignorance
would not allow Knowledge to open her lips, sundry grossly
impudent and infamous fabrications were circulated about all the
English mining establishments in the Brazil.* The benevolent
slanderer who wished to puff his own name, and the dismissed
employe who would gratify his revenge, pandered to the popular
prejudice, and dwelt unctuously iipon the " adynamic condition"
of the negro labourer, and his "cruel and murderous treatment"
This was carried to such an extent that the
Mine were obliged to send out Dr. Walker,
But even to the
whose able report set the question at rest.
present day, whenever an officer is " sacked " for insubordinacy
or incapacity, the first threat he utters is something about
" slaveholders."

by the white.

Directors of the Great

I

proceed now to give

my

account of the black miner as I

found him at Morro Velho.
AVithout including 130 children of liii-ed blacks, and who are
not under contract, the establishment consists of 1450 head, thus
distributed

Company's blacks, 254 (109 men, 93 women, and 52 children)
Cata Branca blacks, 245 (96 men, 87 women and G2 children)
blacks hii'ed under contract, 951.
In these numbers we may see a modification of Saint Hilaire's
statement, " le service des mines ne convient pas aux femmes " t
this might have been true under the old system, it is not so now.
;

;

Oenerally in the Brazil

men

are preferred

upon the sugar planta-

tions, women on those that grow coffee, and as they are wanted
for domestic purposes it is not so easy to hire them.
The " Company's Blacks " consider themselves the aristocracy,
and look down upon all their brethren. Both they and the Cata
Brancas are laiown by the numbers on their clothing the hired
;

* See

an "Introductory Letter

to

Sir

Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart. on the FrightfulHorrorsof Modern Shivery as practised by
,

the Imperial Brazilian Association in their
Mines at Gongo Soco." "I have sometimes thought," says Mr. Trollope, with
great truth, "that there is no being so
venomous, so bloodthirsty, as a professed
Ijhilanthropist, and tliat when the philanthropist's ardour lies negro-WcU'ds, it then

VOL.

T.

assumes the deepest dye of venom and
Witness the doubtless
bloodthii-stiness. "
well-intentioned crowd which collected to
call for the blood of Governor Eyre.
f Travels,

III.

i.

321).

He

h;is

over-

In hiring blacks the
Superintendent warns owners that women
must be accompanied by a gi-eater number

drawn the

of

case.

men, and so we find that of the 9jl
002 are male and 349 arc female.

h;i-ed,

T

—
THE HIGPILANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

274

[cnAr. xxviii.

M. V. marked on tlieii- shirts. The estahlishment expends per mens. ^£1400 upon contracts I need hardly
remark what a benefit this must be to the large proprietors of the
neighbom-hood.
Thus the Commendador Francisco de Paula
negroes wear also

:

Santos

under

lets

children), his

contract

a

total

Dumont

son-in-law Sr.

269 (including 173
145 (97 adults and 48

of

and the Cocaes or National Brazilian Mining Associaand 13 children.
The figures given below will show the average of hire :* clothing,
food, and medical treatment are at the Company's expense.
Usuall}^ the agreement is for three to five years, during which
period the slave cannot be manumitted. As a rule the Superintendent employs only robust men who have passed a medical
examination, but he will take in doubtful lives under annual
contract.
The slave is insured by a deduction of 10 $000 to
20 $000 per annum for a fixed period; and if he die before the
lease has expired the owner still receives his money
there are
children),

tion contributes 142 negroes

—

actually eighty-nine cases of this kind.

negro runs away:

is

it

Pay

ceases only

if

the

issued every thu'd or sixth month, and

the contractors can obtain one year's advance, at a discount of

ten per cent.

As
into

regards labour,

first,

all

are classified according to their strength

second, and third-rate blacks.

In 1847 permission to

work overtime, that is to say, beyond nme hours forty-five
minutes, was given to the first-rates.
There is another division
into surface and underground blacks. The former are smiths and
mechanics, especially" carpenters and masons, who w^ork between
6 A.M. and 5 p.m., with one hour forty-five minutes of intermission
for meals. The oldest and least robust are turned into gardeners,
wood-fetchers, and grass-cutters.
The regular working day at
Morro Velho is as follows
5 A.M.
Eeveille sounded b}' the gong, and half an hour afterwards the Eeview.
6 A.M.

Work.

8.15 A.M.

9 A.M.

12.30 P.M.
*

Breakfast.

AVork.

Dinner.

Annual liire of first-class slaves
Not paying in case of death or flight

.

,

Annualliire of second-class slaves
Not paying in case of death or flight

.

.

.

.

.

men 220 $ 000 women 100 $ 000

.

,,

.

,,

.

,,

230 $ 000
150 $000
160 $000

,,
,,

„

110 $ 000
75 $ 000
75 $ 000

:

THE BLACK MINER.

CHAP. XXVIII.]

"Work.

1.15 r.M.

2

Change guard.

p.:\r.

275

Blasting in

5.30 P.M.

Mechanics' work ended.

8.30 P.M.

Eeturn

to quarters.

meals and eat supper at home.

tlie

The

mine.

sh\ves

Saturday

is

cook their own
they

a half-holiday

:

work at 2.30 p.m., and retire at 9 p.m.
The underground labourers are borers, stope cleaners, trammers who push the waggons, kibble-fillers, and timber-men
they are divided into three corps, who enter the mine at C a.m.,
leave off

On Sunday

the gangs shift places, so that
rough estunate makes
only one week in three is night work.
the number of the gang in the mine at the same time 620,
2 p.m., and 10 p.m.

A

includmg

all

hands.

Yv'hen

work

over they proceed to the

is

changing-house, and find a tepid bath at

all

hours.

They put on

and leave the mme suits either to be dried
The precaution is
in the open air, or by flues during the rains.
absolutely necessary, though very difficult and troublesome to be
enforced: the English miners shirk it, and the free Brazilians
are the most restive, though they are well aware how fatal are wet
their surface-clothes,

garments.

The

blacks lodge in the two villages situated half-way between

the bottom of the river valley and the

Morro Velho hill. Thus,
when going to,

while they escape malaria they are saved fatigue
or coming from, work.

They begin

the

day with

coffee

or

Congonhas tea. Their weekly allowance, besides salt and vegetables, comprises 9 lb. of maize meal, 4|-^5 lb. of beans, 13|
Meat of the best quality here
oz. of lard, and 21b. of fresh beef.
averages 3 $ 000 per arroba, or twopence a pound, and the labourers
purchase, at cost prices, the heads and hoofs, the livers and
internals of the bullocks killed for the use of the establishment.

gardens and clearings: they keep
poultry and pigs, fattened with bran, which they receive gratis.
Part they eat, the rest they sell to procure finery and small

The

industrious have

theii-

" Carne Seca " and farinha are issued when the doctor
Xm'sing women have something added to the sixtenths of a plate of meal, one quarter of beans, and two ounces of
All the
lard, and children when weaned claim half rations.
to the
made
is
report
not
a
if
quality,
and
good
articles are of
luxuries.

orders.

Manager of Blacks.
Drinlv

is

not issued every day, nor

may

it

be brought into the

—

•

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

276

[chap, xxviii.

A well-conducted negro can obtain a dram once
establishment.
per diem with permission of the chief feitor or overseer. Each
head of a department has a supply of " restiho," which he can
and the mine captain can give a *' tot "
to any negro coming wet from duty.
It is, however, difficult to
correct the African's extreme fondness for distilled liquors, which
in this light and exciting air readily affect his head, and soon
prove fatal to him. He delights also in " Pango," here called
Ariri, the well-known Bhang (Cannabis sativa) of India, and of
the east and west coast of Africa.
He will readily pay as much
distribute at discretion,

1$000

as

for a handful of this poison.

The men have two suits
and overalls of cotton for the hot, and of
woollen for the cold season; the "undergrounds" receive,
besides these, a stout woollen shirt, and a strong hat to protect
the head. Each has a cotton blanket, renewed yearl}-^, and if his
dress be worn or torn, the manager supplies another.
The
I never saw negroes so well dressed.

annum

per

—

sliu-t,

women work

in

stronger material

shifts of thin Avoollen

and petticoats of

stuff,

they usually wear kerchiefs round their neck,

;

thus covering the bosom, and one shoulder, after the fashion of
African " Minas," * is left bare. In winter capes of red broadcloth are added to the Review costume.

The

slave labourer is rewarded with gifts of money; he is
allowed leave out of bounds, even to Sahara he is promoted to
;

offices of trust

and of increased pay

a captam over his

and badges of

own people

distinction,

* I have explained this in Chap.

+

I

was allowed

at the

he

made an

is

and he looks forward to

manumission (according
by the Directors, January, 1845), and fi-om it the following figures

:

—

Mr. Keogh placed on the Manumission List

1849
1851
1852
1853
1854

.

.

4

>

„
„
„
„

A

total of 16.

.,

Dr. Walker.

In 1855 negroes and negresses

isS

;:

„ 1868

..

;;

stripes

liberty.!

7.

In 1848 negi-oes and negresses

„
„
n
„
„

overseer or

Review he wears

to inspect the official list of black candidates for

to the Regulations issued

are borrowed

;

;

::

.

•

2

.

:

l[
4

)

1

T.t.i lo,

THE BLACK MIXER.

cuAP. XXVIII.]

The

277

chief punishments are fines, which negroes,

especiall}' hate

;

the penalties, which

now amount

to

Hke Hindus,

400$000,

liave

been transferred to charitable purposes, and swell a small reserved
trust-fund, intended to support the old and infirm.
Other pains
are, not being alloAved to sell pigs, poultiy, and vegetables
arrest
within the establishment or confinement in a dr}' cell, with
boards like a soldier's guard-room fugitives are put in ii'ons.
;

;

manager and the head captain, who required
implicit obedience from the 500 hands of the underground
department, could order a flogging.
This was aboHshed, not,
1 believe, with good effect.
Every head of a department can still
prescribe the " Palmatorio," * but he must note and rei:)ort the
punishment to the Superintendent. Only the latter can administer
a flogging with the Brazilian cat of split liide
and tliis is reserved for confirmed drunkenness, disobedience of orders, mutmv,
or robbing fellow-workmen.
The punishment list is sent in
every fortnight, and as a rule is small.
I especially noticed the
civil and respectful demeanour of the Morro Yelho blacks, who
invariably touch their hats to a white stranger, and extend their
hands for a blessing. The}^ are neither impudent, nor cringing,
nor surly, and, in my opinion, there is no better proof that they
are Avell and humanely treated.
I would here formall}- retract an
opinion which I once thoughtlessly adopted upon the worst of
Formerl}' the

;

grounds, " general accexJtation."

presence of the civilized
recruited from

the "

Red

home

Indian."

man

The negro cannot

live in the

the Brazil proves that unless

:

is not more viable than
manifest destiny " are those

the black population

His

rule

and

*'

of all savages, t
Mr. Gordon.
In 1859 negroes and negresses

„ 1860
„ 1862
,,
,,
,,

,,

1863
1864
1865
1866

„
„
,,

„
„
„

,,

,,

,,

,,

„

,,

....10
.

16

.

.

Upon the

.

.

...

Of these 6 lost the boon by intoxication,
2 were killed in the mine, and 14 died.
* The first " jialmatorio " seen by me in
the Brazil was at the house of an EngIt is a " paddle " of hard black
lishman.
wood, somewhat like that used at "knurr
and spell," with a handle almost a foot
long, and a flat circle about the size of a
large oyster at the usefid end, which is
drilled "with holes.

.

goriUa-like

.

.

.

.

hand

5

5
2
41
18

\

Total 92.

'

of the negro it can hardlj' take the
which
old tutor,

my

eifect of that rattan

Mr.

was so fond of applying
pink and white palms,

(irilchrist,

his pupils'

to

+ By the excess of deaths over births,
the negro population in the whole of the
English Antilles undergoes every year a
in Tobago the
diminution of 4 in 1000
Colonel
annual decrease is 16 to 1000.
Tulloch remark.*, "Before a century the
:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

278

Briefly to

sum up

BRAZIL.

[chap, xxviii.

the statistics of Moito Vellio, in these

its

The

goklen days.

Comi:)any has outlived the thirtyseventh year, and during the hist six it has paid upwards of
gi'eatest

i£10,000 income-tax to the British Exchequer.

The

present

round numbers, j6146,000 per
annum, and the income s£230,000. As a mine it has no parallel
in the Brazil ; the excavation has descended to zones unreached
by other works, and, as has been seen, its breadth is without a
parallel.
It dii'ectly employs 2521 souls
indirectly double that
number.
Besides the 343 EngHsh at Morro Velho there are at least 500
of our own countrymen scattered about the Province of Minas.
outlay of the establishment

is,

in

;

All are destitute of protection
tested in civil

courts,* the

;

their marriages are to be con-

nearest consulate for registration

that of Rio de Janeiro, and the cost of a journey to the coast
and back would not be less than ^50.
There is the same
difficulty touchmg wills and inheritances, especially in the case of
the Company's officers, and the English medical men who live in
the remoter parts of the Province.
The French, Spanish, and
Portuguese Governments have vice-consuls or consular agents at
Barbacena and Om-o Preto, although none save the latter have
is

many

constituents.

We

shall probably see

fit

to follow their

examjile.

And now

adieu to Morro Velho, a place where I found, wonder-

work carried on by night and by day in the heat of
the Tropics, and in the heart of the Brazil.
ful to relate,

negro race will be nearly extinct in tlie
English colonies of the West Indies." (Anthropological Review, August, 1864, p. 169).

A

certain

bill

entitled

marriages

"An

Act to

solemnized

at

legalise

Morro

Yellio in Brazil," and "to be cited for all
purposes as 'the Morro Velho Marriage
Act, 1867,' " remedies part of the inconvenience, but some kind of representation

would remedy

all.

—

CHAPTER XXIX.
TO "ROSSA GRANDE."*
Paiz de gentes e de prodig-ios chcio

Da America

feliz

por9ao mala rica.

Caramw'u,

Mr. Gordon had

obligingly

offered to

combustible matter of disputed substance.

G, 49.

show me a seam of

He

organised every-

the animals were ten, allowing to each of us a
change; our " Camarada," t or head man, was one Joaquim
Borges; and " Miguel," now an old acquaintance, was assisted by

thing for the trip

:

named like Lord
The Superintendent was followed

a sturdy and very black black, Joao Paraox^eba,

Clyde from the nearest

river.

* The following is an approximative itinerary from
Jlorro Velho to Raposos
.
,,
,,

Morro Yermelho
Gongo Soco

Morro Velho

to

Ouro Preto

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

280

by

servant Antonio,

his

livery, tall

gorgeous in the usnal lively Minas

glazed hat and top-boots, turned up with gamboge-

a large silver goblet, venerable article of luxury and

3'ellow;

ostentation,

hung

accompanied

us,

On

[chap. xxix.

b}'

a

cham

last eleven daj'S.

may be

July 10, 1867, we set out at 9 a.m., which

family-travelling hoiu' at this

season

— and

passed the quarter known as the Praia de
sists of six lines of huts,

side walls appear.

and the clay

ing

called

it

Sera.

It con-

"pao

:

The next
is

puddled

process
in.

is to

make

the latter with

This curious form of build-

a pique," or parede de miio,

from the dabbing required.

known

Bom

called

eastward

upon a timber framework thus the top is often
and the doors and window-frames are put up, before the

wattle,
is

striking

with stays sunk in the ground, support-

ting a tiled roof
finished,

Mr. L'pool

over his shoulder.

and the journey was to

"hand

wall,"

AYhere the adobe or the pise

takes the place of sticks and

cla}'.

Here

is

live the free

Brazilian borers, who, like a certain mining population further
east, get

screwed at times, and though they do not heave half a

brickbat

at,

they wildly hoot with blue -red lips the passing

stranger.

We

then crossed bj' an unimj)ortant bridge the Ribeii'ao, whose
bed here widens, and ever^-where shows signs of working
a
peculiar white efflorescence, said to appear phosphorescent at
night, frosts the dark refuse heaps.
This was examined by Dr.
Walker, who "found it to be nothing but sulphate of u'on, which
becomes white when deprived of its water of crystallization." Dr.
Birt also reported that it was an " impure sulphuret of iron, or
the white copperas of commerce, as gallic acid fully shows by
converting it, when mixed, into ink." But Mr. Eeay extracted a
large proportion of arsenical pyrites from the ore generall}-, and
especially from the Bahu.
The " white stuff" is in fact a sublimate of arsenic, and, as will be seen, the boatmen pretend to trace
it all along to the Pdo das Yelhas.
Fm'ther down the Praia are the
works belongmg to the Messrs. Vaz of Sahara formerl}^ they
had many head of stamps, now reduced to a dozen, and a few
Arrastres.
They retreat the waste sand from the Great Mine,
and the " Cascalho " hereabouts is said to be auriferous. Beyond
:

:

are other Brazilian works, called " California."
then ascended a steep rough hill, where there is a charming
view of the settlement the yellow soil is very mean, except in

them again

We

:

—
TO "ROSSA GRANDE."

cu.vr. XXIX.]

281

bottoms, and these are " cold " and flooded.
On the left is the
" Herring ride," Avhicli embalms the name of the first Superin-

tendent

;

it is

a pleasant wav}' line circling round the hills, and

coming out above the
right

we descended a

level of "

Timbuctoo." Wheeling to the
rough and stony, sighting below
das Velhas the stream was invisible, and

stiff slope,

us the basin of the Piio

;

the hollow looked like a vast cauldron wliose seething lacked

The Rego dos Raposos * or Fox's Leap was then
and near it lie the gold-crushing mill and the dwellinghouse of the Capitao Jose Gomes de Araujo a fixmily which
motion.

crossed,

—

ma}^ be called

tlie

old lairds of Raposos.

The formation

is

of

and partially decomposed quartz
there are
veins and lodes, both auriferous, but none have yet been found
pyritic

matter,

;

to pay.

The

slope ended in the usual abominable old Cal9ada here,
Sao Paulo, 3'ou know the approach to cit}', town, or
village, by the extra vileness of the road. The reason is evident
the yvays are more trodden and are not more mended.
Over the
heights around us were scattered a little coffee and two patches
of leek-green sugar-cane.
On the left bank of the Old Women's
River we passed a decayed private chapel, an old gold-stamping
mill, and a huge desolate manor-house belonging to the Araujos.
More fortunate than Dr. Gardner, Avho had to make a long detour,
we found a good timber bridge over the swift and swirling stream
it is 400 palms long, 14 broad, and 20 high
the last date
of repair" is 1864.
The bulk of Raposos, or to give its title in
full, " N^ S'* da Conceigao de Raposos de Sahara," occupies a
small bulge or basin in the riverine valley. It consists mostly of a
villainous pavement and an Igreja Matriz. This church boasts the
honour of being the first built in the Province of Minas it was
once very rich in silver plate, of which something still remains,
and it owns its preservation to the care of its Vicar, "Jose de
Ai'aujo da Cunha Alvarenga," whose memory blossoms in the
It has two filial chapels, Santa Anna and Santo Antonio,
dust.
;

in

as

;

—

;

*

The

-word

is

Raposos or Rapozos.

indifferently

As a nde,

written

in writing

the same words, the Portuguese prefers the
"s," and the Spaniard the "z." Thus
the former would ^^Tite " casa," the latter
" caza. "
But the orthography in this
as in many other jjoints is by no means
settled.

The Eaposo fox is often confounded with
the Cachorro do Mato, a yellowish-grey
canine spread over the So\ithern American
Prince Max. (iii. 149) believes
continent.
it to be the Agourachay of Azara, the grey
fox of Surinam, and probably a climatal
variety of the renard tricolor (Canis griseoargenteus) of Pennsylvania.

a

282

THE HIGHLx\NDS OF THE

near Sabara.

Tlie temple

is

built of tbe

BliAZLL.

[chap. xxix.

common hard

clay slate,

stuck together, not with lime but mud, Avhich melts admirably

during the rains the two little towers are of red taipa or pise,
they are tiled like the church, but they are not white-washed
:

—

symptom

of exceeding penury in the Brazil.

The

parish was

created in 1724, and contained two thousand souls whilst the

gold-washmg

lasted

the

;

number

is

now reduced

to

one-

third.

We

rode along the river-ledge into a wooded lane, and up an

rough with loose blocks and round stones, and rich with
barely passable now, what must it be in wet
weather ? Reaching the " Chapada," ar plateau, Ave spurred fast
over the one good league which we shall find to-day. We i^assed
through a ruined farm with bare and broken walls. It was last
inhabited by D. Reta, widow of one Jose Joaquim dos Frechos
Lobo, and now it is church property, belonging to the " Irmandade
do Santissimo " of Raposos. Beyond it is a rounded eminence,
which caresses the eye of an old survej'or. To the north-west
rises the massive, cross-crowned brow of Curral d'El-Rei
further
west is the green-clad mount known as Morro do Pii-es * to the
ugly

hill,

dust of clay slate

:

;

:

south-south-west
or the " Stone

lies

our

acquaintance the

Pico de Itabira,

or southwards,
runs the Serra de[S. Bartholomeu, the eastern wall of the
upper Rio das Velhas Valley.
It here conceals the quaint
top-knot of Itacolumi, and its regular ridge showed a skj^line blurred with thin rain, Avhicli now fell upon us for the
first time in Mmas Geraes.
Perhajis these are the " showers
Girl,"

whilst

fronting

us,

of S. Joao," somewhat deferred, and interfering with the rights
of St.

Swithin.

The

vesicles

of cloud

were peculiarly well

defined that day.

The tall hills and the quorn-shaped mountains are all bluff
and running high to the west, Avhicli is also the strike of the
stone out-crop.
The cones and heights where the rain washes
are streaked, jagged, and gullied, like those near S. Joao and
S. Jose, with jirojecting stripes of laminated talcose-slate, dull,

and rugged.
This appears to be the skeleton of
and in places the formation is quaquaversal.
On the

grey, hard,
earth,

summit

I observed a trace of

Mr. Gordon found from
bears exactly south-east.

tlie

copper, Avhich suggests that

we

highest point of Morro do Pires that the Itacolumi

TO "KOSSA GRANDE."

CHAP. xxTX.]

now upon

are

283

The

the great field described by Dr. Couto.'^'

more level places made my wife declare that she was once more
Gentle swells heave up the
crossing the Wiltshire Downs.
surface, backed by bolder elevations, confused and billowy
ridges forming an irregular crescent on each side.

steep to the

drains separating the

little

mounds

;

They descend
and here we

look in vain for level water-meadows.

The vegetation of the broken Campo was the usual Cerrado,
Every hollow had
dun and stunted, burnt and wind-wrung.
its

dense coppice hanging from the

sides,

and thicketty jungle along the bottom.
attempt to penetrate these Capoes.

and forming thick

The stranger must not
The mauve and yellow

noticeable forms in the woodlands

by the silver-Uned
one of the most
I beheve
Brazil.
of the

"Cecropia"

belongs

bloom

of

peltated

that

this

the flowery forest

leaves

of

the

tall

or

was

set

off

" Sloth-tree,"

Candelabra-tree

to

the

long

second growth, but Dr. Gunning, whose experience
and respectable, declares that he has seen it in the " Mata
Hereabouts the old woods have gone to make fuel
Vii-gem."
Yet the continual alternation of brake and
for Morro Velho.
the contrast of plateau and
fell, of grass-land and shrubbery
dwarf plain with tall peak and bluff mountain, the diversity
is

;

sunshine smiling through the tears of S.
Joao here the people say the fox is being married in England
formed an effect the reverse of
the Devil is beating his wife
of

colom* and the

—

—

—

monotonous.

The

Sloth-tree (Arvore da Pregui9a or Ayg)

that animal ascends

it,

shoots and leaves

it

till

is

so called because

especially by night, to

looks like a

skeleton.

eat the

young

This Urticacea

by the Tupys Umbauba or Umbahuba, also written
Anbaba, Ambauba, Imbaiba, and many other ways, but not
" Embeaporba," as Mr. AValsh does. Mr. Hinchcliff (''South
American Sketches" chap, xiii.) calls it Sumambaia,. which means
The wild people make a difference between the Cecropia
a filix.
palmata and the C. peltata (L.), specifying the latter as Ambai-

is called

* lie entered it about "Gurrcgos," sixty
miles to tlie nortli, and found it consist of
ash-coloured rhomboids paving the ground
over which his horse passed, without mixture of earthy matter, not in veins, but in
heaps, in rocks, in whole mountains, in entire
;

It is to Mina.=:, lie ileclares, what
and far more abundant
iron, though in other jiarts of the

ranges.

silver is to Peru,

than
world bearing the proportion of one-tenth
to the ferruginous deposits.

2S4

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

tinga, or the "

White," because the okler leaves are lined with a

hoary down, are frequently upturned as

if the}^

[ciiAr.

were withered,

The young

and patch the garment of the tree with white.

xxix.

foliage

is known by its burnished red tinge, which adds not a little to its
The Brazihans also recognise two kinds, Roxa and
beaut^'.
Branca. The Cecropia is well known in Guiana and the Antilles,
Avhere the people call it Coulequin and " bois de tronipette." The
"Indians" emploj'ed this wood and the Gameleira for lighting
their fires with friction. The negroes easily remove the inner pith,

and use

it

not

The

pipes.

arm

;

and

it is

it

onl}' for

tree

grows

trumpets, but for tubes, spouts, and waterfast

breaks easily, but

the buds

said to
is

;

in fom'

it is

make good

months

it is

as thick as a

man's

a true wood, not a mere juicy stem;

The

charcoal for gunpowder.

juice of

used as a refrigerant against diarrhcea, dysury, and

similar complaints; but I have never heard that

"the flower

is

highly prized as a remedy against snake-bites."

The

C.

palmata

has

a

light

smooth,

grey,

bare

stem,

when very young, rarely perfectly straight and
tapering, generally somewhat bent, and often thirty feet high.
About the summit spring, at a right angle and slightly cmndng
grass-green

upwards

arms of a candelabrum, naked branches Avitli
on long supports at the extremities,
gigantic chesnut-leaves joined at the stalks.
The soil makes
like the

their large palmated leaves
like

a great difference in the shape of the tree

:

in certain rich lands

the bole appears shorter because the offsets

commence

sooner,

primary boughs have a much greater number
of secondary branches.
Great variety' of appearance is given by

and

in this case the

hang to the stem of the white-Hned
young leaves, and by the old foliage, which in decay waxes red
and finally black. The C. peltata, Avhich the people call red, has
more the appearance of a tree and less of a shrub its stiff and
somewhat ungainly boughs spread more widely. I have always
the bean-like bunches which

:

held the Cecrojiia to be the chai'acteristic growth of the Capoeira
it

:

certainly is the king of the "bush."

The good league ended at a gateway, which leads from and to
nothing but a vile mile of broken dusty path.
It winds
unpleasantly close to deep gaps, shafts, and holes, which show

how much
you

the country has been turned up, and which

calculate

sm-face

the

of the

joossibility

of

involuntary

sepulture.

makes

The

ground was clad with wild grass (Capim do

t

cii.vr.

TO "ROSSA GRANDE."

XXIX.]

285

Campo), and bright with the pretty white flower of the Breakit easily' flares up and
cracks the clay. A turn to the east showed us Morro Yermelho in
the normal basin. The sphinx-shaped Red Mount, which gave the
name, rises to the south-east of the Settlement the lightning had

pot (Quebra panella), so called because

:

The

lately destroyed its capping cross.

double-steepled church,

with three black windows and abundant white-wash, spoke

ot

and as we wound downwards, up came the sound of the
village bells, informing us that the energetic shepherd was calling
his flock to spiritual pasture. The houses were scattered amongst
masses of bananas tufted with palms. We came upon the Calcada
une fois sur la chaussee et le vo3'age est fini" may be said here
as in Russia
and about noon we entered the Settlement.
Sr. Francisco Yieira Porto
pojDularly " Chico Yieii-a"
gave
us breakfost and notices touching Morro Yermelho.
The precise
date of its foundation is unknown
it can hardly be older than
the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Gold was found there
naturally alloj'ed with copper and iron
it was worked in about a
score of places ;* and of these eight still do a little business.
Industry gave it importance, and in all troubles and disorders
the turbulent Mmeii'os took part with Caetlie and Raposos against
the Portuguese authorities, and the powers that were from home.
The vivacity, compared with the size of these places, was surprising but in those days landed proprietors and mine-owners
had not only negroes but multitudes of Red-skin slaves who liked
nothmg better than a roAv. In 1715 it armed itself and joined in
open revolt the Yilla Nova da Ramlia (now Caethe) and Yilla Real
(Sahara).
The mutineers refused to pay the quint of gold demanded upon each pan, and requu'ed the remission of theii* usual
tribute, which was only 960 lbs. of the precious metal.
They
had actually the msolence to appear before the Governor, the
" Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Dom Boaz Balthasar da
"
Silveii'a," and with abundant " barbaridade
to use his own
phrase they shouted in his noble ear " Yiva O Povo !" Long
prosperit}-;

—

—

—

—

:

:

;

—

—

live

—

—

the people.

Morro Yermellio
" encampment,"
* All duly
(1864-5).

t The Dom's

like

named by
letter

now

is

a

mere

a fair or

the

Almauack

addressed to the

Arraial, a

long,

straggling

market, with one street, " the
King, June IG, 1715, and describing tlie
outrage, is printed in extenso by tlie Almauack of Jlinas, 18C5, pp. 237—210.

"

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

286

general

down

fiiult

wliicli

of villages in Minas,"* forming

must

travellers

pass.

It lias

tlie

a

[chap. xxix.

liigliway

minimum

up and
of 100

maximum of 180 there are two upper-storeyed
and I counted four Vendas or Groggeries. The people
much from goitre, and the place from want of communica-

houses and a

:

dwellings,
suffer

tions

;

this greatly dej^resses their agi'icultm'e, theii' cattle-hreed-

and their ii'on-smelting. Carts must make Morro Velho via the
Eio das Pedras, or along two legs of a very acutangular triangle.
Mr. Gordon, the CO., allowed us only an hour for breakfast
the days were short, and night-travel amongst these hills is long.
We had no time to call at the i^attern one-storeyed house near the
chm-ch, occupied by the vicar, Padre Joao de Santo Antonio f
a reverend of excellent reputation, who in his town and his flock
makes them remember what comes next to godliness. We set
out at 1*30 P.M. up the rocky main thoroughfare, and crossed a
gruelly stream thick with gold- washing
like the Corrego da
Panella on the other side of the settlement, it is an influent of
the Rio das Velhas. Beyond it the rutt}- road spread far and wide
over the prism-shaped hill, and from its narrow crest we at once
dropped into a rich bottom-land.
In front rose the tall Serra of Eoca Grande facing to the
setting sun
hence its cold temperature and its noble vegetation.
Here, contrar}^ to the ride of the Maritime region, the north-west
is the ramy wind
the south-east brings diy weather.
.Thus
Gongo Soco on the northern side of the ridge averages 148
inches per annum to 68*28 that fall at Morro Velho on the
southern flank.
On our left, and low down, was the large
fazenda of an Alferez Matheus Lopes de MagaDiacs the house,
the grounds, and the fine black cattle, show that the old Portuguese proprietor was a hard-working energetic man.
Family
troubles, however, have compelled liim to leave his home, and the
orchard, J whose grapes and aj^ples were famous, is now a waste.
ing,

;

:

;

;

:

* The reason is tliat tlie first houses
were always built on the banks of the auriferous streams where washing l)egan.

f The brother of this ecclesiastic has
named himself " Demetiio Correa de Miranda." A chapter might be written uijon
the subject of Brazilian names
as a ride
any man takes what he jsleases, iisually
the property of some great historic house,
and changes it when he likes.
Sometimes
he goes so far as to publish the alteration
:

in tlie newspapers, but this is only
is in business.
Often two and

when

he

even
have diflerent family names,
drojjping a part, assuming the mother's
maiden name, or taking the name of an
uncle.
The subject will, however, not

tlu-ee brothers

require the legislation which, in France,
demanded by the important particle

v.-as

"de.
J Pomar.

;

TO "ROSS A GRANDE."

CHAP. XXIX.]

To

the south-west

Vieii'a;" the site

is

deep excavation, the mine of " Juca

a

is

287

the flank of a rugged spine composed of

quartz, reddish slate, ferruginous substance, and auriferous soil,

forming

pj-rites.

The Gongo Soco Company did not succeed
now abandoned and choked with

"with these diggings, -which are

water.

Westward

of this place,

property in the east,

is

and adjoining the Rossa Grande
Bepucha Estate, five

the Eepuxa* or

miles long by three broad.
It belongs to jarring little owners
it by the " Datas "f or mineral concessions granted by
the old Guarda-Mores, and it has been worked by a kind of

who hold

In 1864 the Superintendent of the S'-^ Barbara
Company at Pari recommended it through a London broker as
a " splendid field for mining operations," and advised the sum of
Sociedade.

£40,000 to be laid out upon it. He reported the rock to consist
of clay and talcose slate, with strata striking nearly east to west,
and dipping 40° 50° south; the lode to be white and yellow
quartz, with iron and arsenical pyrites; "Olhos" swells or
and auribunches, which have given 50 GO oitavas per ton
ferous " Caco," expected to graduate into pyritic produce below.

—

—

As

yet nothing has been done

:

;

perhaps, however, the project

is

not dead but sleeping.

Descending a

steep,

we found the land blooming with the
The hill

Capini Melado, whose long glumes suggested heather.
was rough enough with rolhng stones to puzzle an Arab.

We

then

This
forded a streamlet and entered the Bossa Grande Estate.
until lately was part of the property belonging to the Marquess

De

Barbacena, a Brazilian gentleman well known in Europe.
up, a miserable tail-race on our right, discharging
some 300 gallons per minute, represented the only water supply
the path was evidently made with toe and heel, an " unsophisti-

As we rode

cated creation of nature," as

is

said of the higlnvay in Siberia.

Turning to the left, we passed a row of ground-floor out-houses
more foully dirty than any I had seen that day. On the hill
above, the inevitable Casa Grande had been commenced, but we
* The "x" in Portuguese sounding like
"ch," or our " sh," allows the spelling to

be confused, as in Cachaga or Caxaca,
Cachoeira or Caxoeira, Chiquc Chiqnc or
Xique-xique.

+ These "Datas" have been compared
the
with the " Tin bounds " of Connvall
comparison is just as far as streaming goes,
mining.
in
but not
:

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

288

[chap. xxix.

went straight to head-quarters, which were temporary and
humble. The Mining- Captain and Manager, Mr. Brokenshar,
came and asked us to hmch we declined with thanks, as we
"Then," said the host, "I've a bit of
Avere short of time.
He was
hot dinner in here I shall wish you good-bye."
:

—

we

evidently Cornish and cautious, nor did

The

questions.

place

looked a failure

:

like to

many

put

there were in sight

fourteen very depressed white men, a few free Brazilians, and

no

slaves.

Thence we made for the stamps and inspected the stuff. The
mine, which lies high up the hill-side, is a layer rather than a
lode, dipping to the east, and cropping out of the north-northThe containing rock
western side of the Rossa Grande Bidge.
a pinkish substance, coated with a thin layer* nearly all iron.

is

run vems of decomposed and easily powdered quartz
contain " Caco."
This
cacophonous term is applied to quartz and oxide of, others say
sulphate of, iron, and is held by miners to be a valuable stone.

Through

it

of

the

sugary variety, expected to

We

also

saw laminated iron-quartz containing a
in brown auriferous soil.

principally found

Httle iron pyrites,

The

best gold-

bearing substances in the formation are reddish oxide of iron and
the " elephant tusk," a plate of dark micaceous impure iron,

running parallel with the sugary quartz. Often there
layer of brown and decomposed iron oxide.

is

a third

This mining proi)erty had long been in the market for £1600
Presently a gentleman at Bio
de Janeiro disposed of it for £22,000 (£11,000 in cash, and
2200 shares of £5 each fully paid up) to the Bossa Grande f
Brazilian Gold-Mining Company Limited the capital being
without finding a purchaser.

—

A

Mining Captain Avho had known the place for
twenty-eight years reported upon it in 1862, and declared that
the estimates show 56 jier cent, per annmn ui)on a called-up
capital of £40,000.
According to the Prospectus the land
extends on both sides of the Serra do Socorro, and thus it has,
£100,000.

made

or

is

is

quartz,
* Called

"Capa."
+ The
a

to have, a rivulet

brown oxide of
by

the

Bi-azilian

at

its

iron,

miner

word is probably Roca,
But Rossa is the name in

original

The formation
j^yrites,

in

a

tlie property was conveyed, and thus
Prowritten by the "Almanak."
bably they were afraid that in Europe
" Iloga " woidd become " Roka.

wLich
it

clearing.

disposal.

and arsenical

is

TO "ROSSA GRANDE."

CHAP. XXI \-.]

containing rock

(jf

cl;!}-.

Gold

exists as

289

tin

aiul

copper

in

England, where the talcose slate effects a mysterious conjunction
with " granite."*
The reporter also found a bit of quart/

showing

visible gold.

formations,
still

all

There are said

auriferous,

unexplored.

The

first

to be three distinct rock

besides

one of Jacutinga, which

lode

white quartz and iron, the

is

is

with auriferous arsenical pyrites and
rich'" Olhos," and the third is " Caco."
The direction is east
to west, and the dip 40° south.

second

yellow

is

quartz

Unfortunately assays from this lode do not give two oitavas
per ton, which, in working on a large

scale,

means

Httle

or

nothing.
* I saw no granite at these altitudes
the hard sandstone has probably been misSo at Rio de .T.aneiro some
taken for it.
:

VOL.

1.

me

that the auriferous deposits of
all gi-anitic where gold had
taken the place of mica.

one told

Minas were

CHAPTER XXX.
TO GONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.
Overhead upgrew
Incomparable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar and pine and fir and branching palm.
3rilton.

The vast curtain of thin blue misty cloud, majestically drifting eastwards, did not raise its folds before 3 a.m. ; luckily, for
the sun that succeeded it made our clothes and ridmg gear smell
distinctl}^

of burning.

We

breasted a steep patch of " terra

" here

;
"red land" is a ruddy argile, not, as in the
Province of Sao Paulo, degraded volcanic matter. There was
also "terra vermelha tatu," much affected by the armadillo,*
and the rest was the common "macape "f or " ball-foot " clay,

vermellia

more or less ferruginous. In places the ochre-tinted ground
showed long streaks of " esmeril," not our emery, but a dust of
magnetic iron which proves fertility of soil, which generally
accompanies vrash-gold, and which is, they say, associated with
iridium or osmiure of iridium. I AVe are now in one of the

dampest parts of Minas
pools

still pit

;

it

is

the heart of the dry season, but

the greasy surface of the path.

Peaching a short level we run along the western sloj^e of a
and with many uncalled-for windings, such as travellmg
north when our course was south, we turned to the east. Bej^ond
ridge,

The common varieties given liy Koster
others, are the " tatii bola" (DasyiDus
tncinctus), whose jointed armonr enables it
to ball itself like a hedgehog
the delicate

+ The Brazilian farmer has, I have said,
a distinct name for every variety of gi-owth
that clothes the vast expanse
and he as

meat

compared to that of the sucking
the "tatu verdadeiro," or true arma-

presume that

(D.

and renders riding in hot weather a sncces-

and

:

pig

;

dillo

is

novemcinctus), a larger species
ball ;" the " tatu greba "
(peba ?) said to be anthropophagous (D.
tfdvipes), anl the "tatu Cauastra "
(D.

;

carefully distinguishes the several soils.

"Ma9ape" means

I

"ball-

foot ;" it certainly balls the mules' hoofs,

which cannot "

sion of sUdes.

gigas).

J This is positively asserted by .Jose
Mineralogica).
Bonifacio (p.
\r 14,> Yiagem
o
<=
.

"

TO GONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.

CHAP. XXX.]

291

we change water-shed,

the summit of the Serra de Luis Scares

leaving the basin of the Rio das Velhas, or rather of the Rio de

Rio Doce. The lands, once o-«aied
Gongo Soco Company, are now the property of the ComThe road at once
mendador Francisco de Paula Santos.
improves, it has been widened and partially dramed it is the
Stio Francisco, for that of the

b}'

the

;

Brazil veysus England, and England

is,

I regret to say,

"^no-

where."

was the junction of the Caethe * highway to Gongo
Soco we were shown the whereabouts of the town, at the
I regretted that we had not
base of the Serra da Piedade.
time to visit it the church is famous throughout the Province,
and the place produces pottery of a superior quality, a blue clay
which biu'ns to a light greyish tint. But we had seen and were

On

the

left

;

;

still

to see,

The

many

a temple and a tuilerie.

is enriched by the overfrom the western face
we now plunge into the true
"Mato Dentro," or inner woodland formation. It is the fourth
region, l3'ing west of the Campos or Prairies, the Serra do Mar
on this
or Eastern Ghauts, and the Beii'amar or Maremma
parallel it will extend west to the Cerro or true Diamantine formation, wliicli reaches the luxuriant valley of the Rio de Sao
Francisco.
Originally the term " Mato Dentro," which is still

south-eastern side of this ridge

falls

;

;

to many settlements, was descriptive of the secular
which lay ''within" or inland of the grassy hills and
prairie lands.
These vii-gms of the soil have long been cleared
away from manj' parts, and have been succeeded by tall second
Here and there,
growth, stunted scrub, and the sterile fern.t

applied

forests

however, vast tracts of the primitive tunber remain.

Mr. Walsh
* Caa-ete,
signify

I

proposes six regions or varieties of surface over

or coa-ret^,
or

"very bush,"

-n'oiilcl

literally

"bush-much,"

true or good growth hence a forest, applied
either to the Mata Yirgem or to the Mato
Dentro.
Many places in the Brazil have
this name, which is also rendered in the
vernacular " Capao bonito.
"Caete," derived from the same roots,
is also a broad lettuce-like leaf from 3 to 5
palms long, and growing in rich damp
grounds.
The Indians made of this vegetation coverings for their provisions, such
war-farinha
the Brazilian trooper
as
twists the leaf like the grocer's lirown paper
;

:

cone,

and drinks from the

From " Caeth^

"

rastic cup.

derived the name of
the South American wihl hog, known as
" Caetetu :" the last syllable is suu (also
wTitten suia and soo), changed for euphony
to tuu, and thus the word means literally
"virgin-forest-game."
f " Toda essa terra se cobre, depois de
meia duzia de plantacoes, de um feto (filix)
a que chamao Sambamliaia, e cpie acontecido desemparao a terra," says Dr. Conto
is

'

(p.

+

'

80).

Vol.

ii.

pp. 299

— 312.

—
;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

292

which his route
3.
5.

lay.

These are

:

1.

Beiramar

;

2.

[ch.ap.

xxx.

Serra Acima;

Campos 4. Rock}^ metalliferous Serras, " a stony Arabia "
The Mato Dentro, which he describes as " low eminences
;

;

covered with copse and brushwood, frequently interspersed with
ferns and brambles"; and 6. " Bristly peaks and conical mountains

which read granular or quartzose " ItacoluIn the Cisandine valley of the Amazons Paver, Mr. E.
Spruce finds five distinct series of vegetation, independent of the
actual distribution of the running waters, and to a certain extent,
of the geological and the climatic constitution of the country. He
of bare granite," for

mite."

gives

*

:

merged
3.

1.

The Hiparial Forests, which, with their scrub, live submany months of every 3'ear 2. The Recent Forests

for

The Low

;

or

White Forests

;

(caa-tingas

?),

the remains of an

ancient and highly interesting vegetation, which are now being
encroached upon by a sturdier growth 4. The Virgin or Great
Forests which clothe the fertile lands beyond the reach of inunda;

tions

;

and, lastly, the

Campos

or Savannahs, regions of grassy

and scrubb}' knolls, glades, and hollows.
We halted to admire the "floresta fechada " closed forest
this pomp and portent of nature, this entire disorder of vegetation, through which the tropical smi shot rare shafts of
golden light, and which kept the gioammg even at mid-d<\v
viewed from above the feathery leafage disclosed glimi)ses of
yellow downs, grey rock-peaks, and blue ridges dotting the
misty background, whilst the base was of impervious shade. The
surface, wholly undrained and unreclaimed, is a forest mould, a
layer of soft, sjiongy, chocolate-coloured humus, the earth of
leaves, trunks, and root stools, in which the well-girt walker
often sinks to the knee.
After travelling through it, man learns
to loathe the idea of a march amid a state of nature. Essentially
uneven, the ground is a sj'stem of sombre sloping valleys and
deep, abrupt ravines clothed in double shades, here soled with mud,
there cut by a cool stream rolling its crystal down stone stejDS
and over beds of pure sand, pebbles, and rock slabs. In some
places it is diversified by clift's and drops, in others knife-backs
separate precipices on either side, and in others the stony bone
pierces through the skin.
The sections show a subsoil of rich

—

* The reader must be warned that these regions ai'e not always distinctly marked
instance, the metalliferous Serras (Cerro formation) alternate with the ]\latu Dejitro.

:

for

TO CONGO 8000 AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.

ciiAP. xxx.]

red

c'la}-,

embedding boulders of

293

granite, gneiss, or greenstone,*

or disposed in layers of argile, resting, as in the Maritime Range,

upon the rock

Its

floor.

damp

climate

during the day-time, a

is,

which causes a cold perspiration to follow
the slightest exertion.
The sun-beams rarely reach and never
suffocating,

warm

heat,

the mould}' ground, while the tree screens deprive earth of

wholesome draughts. The nights and mornings are chill and
raw; and during storms the electricity is excessive.
Fevers
abound, and the few human beings who live in the "greenwood"
are a sickly race, sallow and emaciated, bent and etiolated, as if
fresh from a House of Correction.
The altitude of the Mato Dentro is here that of the Maritime
Range, the climate

is similar,

ness in the vegetation,

consequently there

wdiicli is fed fat

twelfth centuries, which, reviving the
trees

human spii'its,

})assions

of the tliird and
Hamadryads, restored to

here seem to be realised

and bestial

energy.

a family like-

The dreams

genial rain, and tropical sunshine.

wrestles and struggles for dear

is

upon abundant carbon,

life,

as if

In

the

;

everything growing-

endowed with animal
clearings,

Avhere

bulwarks of verdure stand outlined, we are struck by
peculiarity

of the

equatorial forest.

The

slim masts

the

many

a

of the

harder timber are planted in the ground like poles, the softer

woods have giant flying buttresses raised from five to eight feet
above the soil and forming the great roots below. The walls of
the chamferings would enclose a compan}^ of soldiers
the wings
here, as in Africa, are easily converted into planks, and the
;

* In the valleys, coombs or corries, these
Unformations suggest "boulder-drift."
ravine floors and the
fortunately the

"Tors" or rock-hummocks (roches moutonnees) are not "ice-dressed," or, at least,
stone-scorings and striated, polished or
grooved surfaces have not yet been observed.
Professor Agassiz, the father of the glacial
theory, remarks (Journey in Brazil, pp. 88
89), "I have not yet seen a trace of
glacial action, properly speaking, if polished
surfaces and furrows are especially to be

—

He attributes the
considered as such."
absence of striation and " slickenside " to
abnormal decomposition of the surthe
face-rock, which points to a new geological
agency, thus far not discussed in our geoHe believes that the
logical theories."
wai-m rains falling upon the heated soil
must have a very powerful action in accele'

'

rating the decomposition of rocks
and he
comixires it with torrents of hot water
striking for ages upon hot stones.
Few Brazilian travellers will accept this
"
explanation of the absence of " gi-ooving
and "burnishing." Almost all residents
are agi-eed that in this country hard stone
used for building, and other subaerial purposes, suffers notably less from atmospheric
;

modification than it does in Europe.
Nor
is it easy to see how -s^^arm rain washing
heated surfaces would affect the latter more
powerfully than the tremendous force of
alternate frosts and thaws of the so-called

temperate regions.
It is, however, premature to discuss the
subject of "ice-dressing" in the Brazil:
the hammer must be freely used in situ
before theorising can be of value,

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

294

[chav. xxx.

them as gongs to
by striking them ^Yith hatchets. The trunks are
white-barked with etiolation, red-brown with various Hchens and
Indians, an old missionary informs' us, used
recal stragglers

mosses, or spotted with a resplendent carmine-coloured growth.*

background of gloomy
though the Indian
arrow will toj? them, the shot-gun can do no harm. They shoot
up boughless before s^jreadrng out, as high as possible, the better
to fight the battle of life and to plunder then- weaker neighbours
The disposition of the
of goodly sun and air, light and heat.
and
tmt of the leafage
few branches also is varied by the shape

They stand out

like a palisade against the

many

shade, and

of

them

are so tall that

some, the m3Ttles for instance, are marvellously symmetrical

and the Euj)horbias, are picturesquely irrea wonderful and a beautiful complication.
Many species, I may venture to say, are unknown. The Myrtaceffi
and Leguminosse are the most numerous; the aristocracy is represented by Hymenepe, Bauhinias, giant figs, towering Lauruses,
and colossal Bignonias, which supply the hardest timber. The
beauties are the Acacias, the Mimosas, the Lasiandras, and the
slender-waisted palms, with bending forms and heads charged
with tall sillven plumes. The proletariat undergrowth is represented by Cassias charged with flower-tufts, Heliconias, groundothers, the Malvacepe

gular

;

the result

is

palms, tree-nettles (Jatrophas), Bigonias, Agaves,

many

kinds of

Cactus, arundinaceous plants, and various Bamboos, often forty
feet high, either

unarmed

or terrible with thorns.

These form

impenetrable fourrcs, thi'ough which only an elei)hant's weight
could break

;

the facao or

must painfully cut for himself a path Avitli
and he feels as if safelv lodged in a vegetable

the hunter
bill,

jail.

The nmnber,

and the brightness of the flowers dismore honiel}', though still
beautiful growth, of the temperate regions, Canada and the
Northern States of the Union. The general surface is a sj'stem
the

variet}',

tinguish this Brazil forest from the

of wonderful

domes charged with

ing like vegetable jewels.
here, as in Africa, takes

It is
\v[)0\\

brilliant points of light, glitter-

now autumn, but

itself the office of

thus spring and autumn mingle their charms.
still

bare of

John

Mawe

utilise the dje.

leaf,

the cold season

om-

sj)ring,

Some

and

trees are

others wear garments of ashen-grey or sere and

took with him to England some of this lichen, and tried, but in vain, to

TO GONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.

295

others are robed in rosy tints and burnished red.

The

CHAr. XXX.]

3'clloNv

;

normal

coloiu' is a

dark heavy gTeen

every shade of green, how-

';

from the lightest leek to the deepest emerald.
AVhile a few trees are in fruit many are still in flower, and here
again is an endless diversit}-.
The gold and purple blossoms first
attract the e3'e
there is no want, however, of wliite and blue,
pink and violet, crimson and scarlet. They load with perfmne
ever, appears,

;

air, and once more there is every variety of
from the fragrance of the Vanilla and the Cipo Cravo,

the moist heavy
odoiu's,

which suggests

cloves, to the

Pao de Alho, that spreads the smell

of garlic over a hundred yards around

Most astonishing perhaps

it.

of all the

epiphytes, air-plants and parasites.

features are the

forest

The weak enwrap

the strong

from head to foot in rampant bristling masses, and hide them in
cypress-like pillars of green.
Even the dead are embraced by the
livmg that swarm up, clasp, entwine, enwrap them, and stand
upon tlieii' crests, the nearer to worship Sol and ^ther. Every
tall, gaunt, ghastly trunk, bleached with age and grimly mourning
its departed glories, is ringed and feathered, tufted and crowned
with an alien growth that sucks, vampii'e-like, its life-drops till it
melts away in the hot moistm'e, and sinks to become vegetable
mould. The least fracture or ii*regularity of stem or axil is at
once seized upon by a stranger, that lives at the expense of the
Every naked branch is occupied by
tree and assists at its death.
lines of brilliant flowers and tufty leaves of metallic lustre. Thus
each venerable ancient of the vu-gin forests is converted into a
conservator}', a botanical garden, " un petit monde," numbering
a vast variety of genus and species, admirable in diversity of

—

and clothed in a hundred colours with truth, it is said,
trunk here gives more forms than a forest in
Em'ope.
As a rule, orchids are not so abundant in the forests of the
interior as in those nearer the sea, where they hang the wood
with tufts of roses and immortelles. The upper branches of the
tree are richest in pendent Cacti, and below them trails the
Further down
bizarre, didl-grey Barba de pau* or Tillandsia.
flourish garlands and festoons of Arums and Dracontiums, Marantas
aspect,

that

a single

and Caladiums, with succulent, dark-green, cordiform

* Also

known

as

Barba de

Vcllio

;

I liave

alluded to

it

in

Chapter

3.

leaves.

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

206

Most remarkable

is

BRAZIL.

[.iiap.

xxx.

the Bromelia, with coral-red calyx and the

points of the folioles passing from flame-colour to pm-ple-hlue.
There are bouquets of red, yellow, and orange flowers in spikes

now

;

they

press close together, and sometimes one kind will take root

upon

or umbels,

another.

lily,

then suggesting the hyacinth

The

Banisterias,

flowered

like the

creepers are woody Bauhinias, PauUinias, and
mixed with the withe-like convolvulus, the blue-

Ipomoea,

much

like

our

common

convolvulus,

the

whose pods here feed the rats the Grenadilla, studded
with apples, and a variety of quaint and gaudy Passion-flowers.
Many of them, Ampelidte, Aristolochias, Malpighiacere, and others,
Vanilla,

;

are families either belonging to or best developed in this
"World, and each has branched

oft"

into

many

a species.

New
The

run up the masts with gigantic flat
dwarf English
ivy.
Not a few of them are thorny, and the people believe their
wounds to be poisonous. Some throw down single fibres or
ligneous vine-like llianas

disposed at intervals like those of the

leaves,

filaments hke a system of bell-wires

fifty feet

long

others, vary-

;

ing in thickness from a thread to a man's arm, trail across the
path.

These hang

the strained or torn rigging of a

like

those cling like monstrous boas to the bole

till

shij)

they reach a

height where they can safely put forth their cappings of tufty leaves

and

flowers.

pages.

The

The

slightest sketch of their varieties

would cover

convolutions seem to follow no rule as regards the

sun, although the southern side of a tree, like the northern in
is here usuall}' distinguished by a more luxm^iant growth
moss and lichen. Our old friend, the Cipo Matador (Clusia
insignis, " Mata pau "), that vegetable Thug, winds like a cable
round the tree-neck which it is throttling. Many of the climbers
pass down the trunks, take root anew, or run along a fallen
forest-king, and swarm up the nearest support from this they again
descend, and thus they rope the forest with a cordage wonderful
in its contrasts and complexities.
Lowest ujion the trees are the
pendent fringes of delicate fernery, which are terrestrial as well
as air-plants, mossing over every rock and giving life to the stone.
In marshy places spring palm-like Equisetums, which easily overtop a man on horseback.
The tree-ferns * are no unworthy

Europe,
of

;

* It cannot be said in the Brazil that
have a limited range
I find

tree-ferns

them everywhere

:

in the

humid

climates

between the sea shore and 3000 feet of
altitude,

;

TO GONfiO SOCO AND THE FABBKICA DA ILHA.

ciiAP. x\x.]

297

descendants of the Calamites, bundles of fibres, forty feet high
upon the " antediluvian " type, com-

the eye dwells with pleasure

paring the smallness and the delicate cutting of the bending and
Avaving folioles with the tallness

and

trunk

stiffness of the

often,

;

moreover, grimly armed with thorns.

These virgin

forests have other dangers than fever

It is necessary to

encamp

them with

in

wieldy elder, that has ended his tale of years,

falls

with a terrible

Where

the ground
" accidented " the dense huge vegetation of the lower

crash, tearing
is

away with him a

and ague.

Often some un-

care.

much

levels fines off

world.

little

above into thin and scrubby caa-tinga and carrasco,
no risk. During long-continued tropical

Avhere the winds bring

rains tree shelter

spouts of water.
botanists
is

is

of scant avail

at

;

first

only a fine spray

drops and small
growths are the despair of

but this soon collects into huge

descends,

]\Iany

the infloration

;

of these

found only on the top, and the wood

is

so hard that a day is easily wasted in felling.

It is the

same

with the air-plants, which, carried from place to place by winds

and

birds, mostly

grow

far out of ladder reach.

Glorious in the sunshine, the Mato Dentro becomes weird and
mysterious when the lurid red light bursts from the
clouds upon the mighty fret work of olive green.

sunset

It is esjiecially

when a storm gives deeper gloom to the depths of the
The
and presently startles all the sombre solitude.
forest is poor in large life, the grandest specimens are the

interesting
alcoves,

poorest

as in Equatorial Africa, the inanimate will not allow

;

the presence of the animate

;

we must,

therefore, look for

On

places where the forest outskirts meet cultivation.

hand,

unpleasantl}' rich in the smaller

it is

life.

game

in

the other

And as we

see vege-

table forms ranging between the arctic crj'ptogams, mosses, and

lichens that encrust the rocks, which are covered Avith the tropical

Bromelias, and which shadow the palms, so we hear the scream of
cr}' of the jay, and the tappmg of many woodcombined with the chatter of the parrot and the
paiToquet,t and the tolling of the bell-bird from the lofty tree'* Ubi aves ibi angeli," said the older men, and we love the
top.

the hawk, the

peckers,*

* Especially Anabatis (Tcmiuinck) erythrophthalmus A. atricaiiillus and A. leucophthalmus, a reddish-brown bird with a
singular cry
it
by Prince
is described
;

;

JIax.

iii.

32,

f Tarrots

and

iii.

43.

are rare in this region,

macaw, that prime ornament
forest,

has been killed

o\it.

and the

of the vii'gin

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

298

feathered biped, not only for

because

its

itself,

[chap. xxx.

although loveable

presence argues that of man.

Nor must

j:)er se,

Ave

but

forget,

while noticing the " natural harmonies " in these leafy halls, the
music of the " singing toad " in the swamp, and the ffog
concerts carried on in the water and the grass, on the earth and

every fallen tree.

At

a distance

it is

a continuous recitativo with

base and treble, interrupted at times by a staccato passage, Avhich

seems to be the cry of a child, the yelping of a cur, or the blow of
hammer upon an anvil. But even a hst of small Hfe, of the
moths and butterflies, the beetles and the bees, the mosquitos and
the abominable Marimbombo wasps, would delay us too long we
should not reach Gongo Soco to-night, or in this Chapter.
a

—

As we progressed slowly down the dark
" verdobscure " scene and the sunlight,

"

da Casa

!

tlie

admiring the

broken into scarlet shafts
palms and ferns and precipices,
.

.

.

Amid

alle}-,

any one at home

!

" cried a cheery voice behind

AVe turned and recognised the Dii'ector of the Cuiaba Mme,
Mr. James Pennycook Brown, F.E.G.S., whose acquaintance Ave
had already made.

us.

Loose liis beard and hoary hair
Streamed, like a meteor, to the troubled air

as he rode
to

Avails;

;

up

Ave dismounted
and tangled raA'ines,

After a joyful greeting

to join us.

the path, skirting deep valleys

showed much of the sublime and beautiful, but it Avas very
muddy, steep, and slipper}- in fact, it had little of the comfortable.
At Cantagallo, lughest mining station beloAv the divide,
Ave entered upon " Canga," here
an incrustation of brown

—

haematite.

It noAV paves the ground, there

jecting like roof-ea\'es; beneath

Jacutinga,

AA'ith

it

there

forms ledges pro-

may be

claystone or

or Avithout gold.

Descending the

hill

" Morro Agudo," a

Ave

saAv

through

the

avenue of trees

and bearing
of Sao
Miguel de Piracicaba, on an influent ten to tAvelve leagues from
the true Eio Doce, is the ii"on foundr}' of M. Monlevade, a
French settler of the old school. Though an octogenaire he
tmuis out more Avork than any of his neighbours, and he supplies
east

Avitli

northing.

little

peak blue

Avith distance

Here, in the parish and

district

TO GONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.

CHAP. XXX.]

290

the Great Mine, despite the interval of eighty miles, with stamp

His slaves are well fed,
hy way of pay they employ the Sunday in
washing gold from the stream, and they often make 1 $ 000 during
the day if compelled to work during the holiday they receive a
small sum by way of indemnification.
Nearing the hill-foot, we turned abruptly down a steep to the
left.
On the right was a huge pit, red and j'ellow, whence the
auriferous matter had been removed.
Then appeared on the
The tall
other side the uj)per ground of the once famous mine.
hill Avas rent and torn as if by an earth-slip, and showed a huge
slide black as if charcoal had been shunted down it
at the bottom
was a large rugged open cut such as Brazilian railwaj's affect. The
surface, as the sun withdrew, appeared the colour of lamp-soot.
In this western portion was sunk Lyons's shaft, once the richest,
and Gardner may still be justified in asserting that about half a
mile to the eastward of the mme entrance the auriferous bed
narrows to a pomt, but that "westward it appears inexhaustible."
We followed the bubbling waters of the Corrego de Gongo Soco
till we came to the present workings.
All is on a very small
scale, confined to removing the pillars that were left, washing out
the sides of the roadways, and taking up, where possible, portions
of the old lines.
Eighteen head of stamp, a feitor, and a few
heads and other rough appliances.
clothed, and lodged

;

;

:

negroes are

all

the

symptoms

of present industry.

The

propert}-,

by about half that breadth north
to south, now yields, they say, about 4 pounds Troy per annum, and
the Commendador Avould, it is believed, sell it for a very moderate
sum.
The shades of Captam Lyon and Colonel Skerrett must haunt
" West Barbary," once so wealthy, now so
tliis Auburn in
Avhich runs one mile east to west,

decayed.

It is

melancholy to see ruins in a young land, grey hau"s
store to the left of the path

upon a juvenile head. The huge white
is

shut up, the gardens have been wasted by the tame pig, the excel-

from the remnants of the negro
Sensallas blind and crippled blacks came and received sixpences
from Mr. Gordon as we passed. The Casa Grande of the " Lord
High Commissioner," large as many a summer palace in Europe,
looked abominably desolate, and though the place is still a
*'
chapehy " the little steeple is shored up. The arched gateway
lent stables are in tatters, whilst

of stone, the eastern limit of the mine proper,

still

stands, but

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

300

the cliaiigiiig-liouse, where

men

[.hap. xxx.

shifted their garments, has melted

away.
Contrasting with

A

nature.

fig-tree

all

this ruin

was the prodigious

might have made a table

of a slab * that

vitality of

sprang fresh and green from the very middle
for Titans

or a sarco-

Pharaohs. It was of regular shape, some 60 feet long, 15
broad, and about 4 in height
its material was iron and hard laminated clay. This " Baron's stone " should not be a " sine nomine

phagus

for

;

Saxum."

Another tree, a Canella (Tjaurus atra, one of the
been allowed to remain near the entrance of the

Laurineffi) has

The late Bariio de Catas Altas used
make it hold his horse, and, when

mine.

in his days of poverty

to

the

English, he requested that

it

propert}'

became

might be spared.

AVe then passed down the beautiful vale of the Gongo Soco rill,
some 4 miles long by half that breadth. On the left or north was
the wooded range of Tijuco, highly ferruginous and auriferous,
in fact, the mother of the gold.
To the right Avas the stream
valley, and my friends pointed out the place whence the deep
adit for draining the mine should have been run up to the level of
the Casa Grande.
The bottom is garnished with timber and tree
mottes the undulatmg grass}' sides show stones cropping out to
;

the west

;

the picture

the upper heights are studded with
is set in

thm

Cerrados, and

a semicircle of mountains.

showed us the Gongo
it becomes
the Barra de Caethe, the S. Joao de Morro Grande, and lastly the
Santa Barbara, where it joins the great Piracicava, and feeds the
Rio Doce from the west. Up its valley we see the scatter of houses
forming the Taboleiro Grande village, and higher up the gorge is
the old settlement with the chapel of Soccorro, after which its
Another turn

River of

to the left along the hill-side

many names.

It begins life as the

Soccorro

;

is called.
The stream threads like a silver wire a black
bed of degraded Jacutinga. Beyond it a white road winds up a

grotto

block of

The

hills to

a mountain-tarn,

known

as the

Lagoa das Antas.
around
and cay-

lakelet is described as being without issue, shallow

the margin, and deep in the centre

;

its

tapirs (antas)

mans were soon destroyed by the miners who

Here called Lapa, which generally
nieans a cave.
It is our leh or lech, as it
occurs in Crom-leh, the crumpled or crooked

stone

;

and

repaii'ed there to

in this part of

cally applied to

hard

Minas

clay-slate,

is

generi-

CHAr. xx.K.]

TO CONGO SOCO AND THE FABBRICA DA ILHA.

Wiish their stolen gold,

but

it

still

contains

leeches,

301

somewhat

smaller than those imported.

AVe were waxing tired after our long day of mist, drizzle, sunshine,

and many emotions

:

my

wife

Still,

long

the air became biting, and

declared that she held the halting place to be a mj'th.

French posting road, the path
straggled over a soil of iron on the left bank of the Gongo River.
At 6 P.M. we reached our destination, the Fabbrica da Ilha, which
belongs to Sr. Antonio Marcos the Ranger. His son-in-law, Sr.
Joiio Pereira da Costa, received us with the normal Brazilian
hospitality, and lost no time in supplying us with what our souls
most lusted after, supper and sleeping gear.
I collected from INIr. Gordon and others the following items of
as the poplar avenue of the old

information about the mj^sterious Jacutinga.*

The name

is

evidently derived from the well-known Penelope t

from the white spots upon its
This substance of iron-black,
with metallic lustre, sparkles in the sun with silvery mica; the
large pieces often appear of a dark reddish brown, but thej''
crumble to a powder almost black. The constituents are micaceous
iron schist t a,nd friable quartz mixed with specular iron, oxide
of manganese, and fragments of talc.
Pieces of the latter substance, large enough for small panes, occur in blue clay slate.
The floor rock at Cocaes is fine micaceous peroxide of iron
(specular iron), thin and tabular.
This has never been reached
at Gongo Soco, and the foot-wall is still unknoAvn.
It may be
specular iron, for oligistic matter is found in small portions, and
was stamped for free gold.
Much of the Jacutinga is foliated, and forms under pressure
spheroidal oblong crj'stals never found perfect.
It shows great
difterences of consistency
some of it is hard and compact as
haematite, and this must be stamped like quartz. In parts it feels
soapy and greasy, not harder than fuller's earth it is easily wetted
called Jacu-tinga (P. Leucoptera)

crested head and blue-black wings.

;

;

* I have reason to believe that there are
formations of Jacutinga in Habersham
County, and about the north-east corner
of Cxeorgia.

Fcrreira says the Jacu-tinga (white) is " cle
cor preta," Init with white spots upon the

wings and liead.
f orJ Mr. Walsh applies the term
ma^So preta " to this gangue, but the BraHe also
zilians do not use the expression.
calls Jacutinga " Corpo da formagao," a
term used rather in diamond washing than
in gold washing.
'

f This handsome and
bird is of many varieties,

fine-flavoured

game

the Jacu(big)
:issu
the excellent J. pema, dark,
which Prince Max writes Jacnpcmba, PenelopeMavail, Linn. and J. Caca, the smallest.
,

esijecially

'

302

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

and pulverised, but

it is

rated by washing, and

hard to diy.

it is

[chap. xxx.

Its gold is readily sepa-

The whole

purified with nitric acid.

body of the lode is not worth removing; it is therefore best
worked in underground galleries. The lines and veins are followed with pick and without blasting their contents supply a soft
and crumbling iron ore, which requires little stamping, and the
" line gold " thus procured is of superior qualit}'. Often by
following the filaments which radiate to all directions from a
common centre, the miner finds a nucleus or nugget of large
size, but inferior in standtuxl to the line gold, and losing more in
The carat at Gongo Soco was 19 20. Some
the smelting-pot.
;

—

describe the gold as dark yellow with palladium, others say that

it

was deeply tinged with u'on and coloured like lead. I have seen it
of a bright brass}' tint, and sometimes dingy red like worked unpolished copper.

Gongo Soco evidently "gave out" because men knew all about
But in this mine the gold was free and the plundering was enormous, some say to the extent of one-half the find.

Jacutinga.

Tales are still told of miners going out on Sunda3^s carrying guns
filled with stolen ore, and the tin biscuit-cases that came empty
.

mine sometimes took out from it thirteen pomids of the
There is yet much treasure hidden, and at times
precious dust.
Gongo
the luck}' ones find little fortunes in pots and bottles.
Soco is explained to mean "the gong, or bell, sounds not."
into the

Brazilians translate

it

" Escondrijo de ladroes "

— den of

thieves.

;

CHAPTER XXXL
TO CATAS ALTAS DE MATO DENTRO.

E onde, estulto Velho, oude acliaremos
O ceo de Nitheroy ? As f erteis plagas
Do nosso Paraliyba ? E as doces aguas
Do saudoso

Carioca

.

.

.

?

Confedcraqao dos Tamoyos, Canto IV.

We

slept comfortably at the little fazenda.

It

was the usual

countiy abode, a ground-floor used by negroes and animals,
a wooden staircase leading to the " sala " or guest room, and

behind

it

the gynsecium and kitchen, which are forbidden ground,

The

the sancta of the Dona.

front

room

is

furnished with a

tall, a bench or two for the
and a dozen chairs with cane backs and bottoms
these are famous for wearing out overalls, and are instruments of

Avooden table, always six inches too

humbler

sort,

tortiu'e to

those

who remember

The

the divan.

paperless walls

are adorned with hunting" trophies, weapons, horse-gear, prints of

the Vii'gin, the saints, early Portuguese worthies, the siege of

Arronches, and Napoleon Buonaparte

sometimes there

;

mirror and a Yankee clock, long and gaunt
there

is

a

in the wild parts

;

a portable oratory, a diamond edition of a chapel, two

is

patron samts, prints, flowers, and

feet high, lodging proportional

bouquets

;

they defend the

small sums

and

little

valuables

entrusted to them by the owner.
is

In the carpetless corner there
often a large clay water-jar with a wooden cover, and a tin pot,

the drinking fountain.
of the guests open

The

upon the

family sleeps inside, the bedrooms

sala

:

these windowless alcoves

not being wanted at night and during the siesta,

what old

Rome

Each has one

Here

—

light

exactly

bequeathed to her daughters, Portugal and Spain.

or two cots,* bottomed with rattan, hide, or board,

and mattresses
*

—are

called

stuffed Antli grass

or maize

" Gatre," evidently a corruption

of the

leaves.
Hindostani

The
kliatli.

bed-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

304

BllAZIL.

[ciiAr.

xxxi.

clothes are generally good, alwa3'S clean, and the pillow-cases are

edged with broad

The dining-room

j^illow-lace.

is

often in the

body of the house, where the feminine portion, congregating
behind the doors, can observe the stranger without being seen.

One

of the peculiarities of the table is the absolute necessity of

a table-cloth; even
travelling

box

The

is

other

b}-

if

you

are served with a

mess of beans upon a

a negro host, he will always spread a napkin.

the presence of a tooth-pick holder of quaint shape,

which exercises much small German ingenuity. Our country
people, often leave home with a mighty contempt for the cleanly
" palito," * which the}' amusingly term a dirty practice. In a
few months, however, they discover that it is indisj)ensable in the
Tropics, but not having learned its use, they are by no means
pleasant to look upon

they use

Avliilst

the ground floor, the sala

it.

When

the fazenda is on

a place of passage for vermin-bearing

is

sheep and goats, poultry and pigs

;

such was the Irish cabin of

the last generation, and the richest proprietors care

little for this

nuisance, which the juniors and the seminude negrolings delight
to abate with sticks

and stones.

many

Altogether the small fazenda lacks
the comfortable traveller.
hospitalit}', and, if the

But

things desirable to

in its roughness there is a ready

master be a traveller or an educated man,

a hearty good will and a solicitude about the comfort of his guest

which I nowhere remember except in the Brazil.
Next morning we inspected the Fabbrica furnaces. On the
right bank of the Gongo River there is an outcrop of sandstone
slanting westward and roofing the Jacutinga, which can easil}' be
made either into pig (cast ii'on) or bar (wrought iron).t There is a
marvellous richness of this material, which reminded me of

Unyamwezi
land,

Minas

in

Inner Africa

and Martins
is,

and

St.

it

;

extends for leagues over the
agree

Hilaire

that

this

part

of

as Pliny said of little Elba, inexhaustible in its iron.

The mineral here

contains from 50 to

84

per cent,

of pure

we saw worked gives GO per cent. What
England, wliicli must remain content with 20

metal, and that which

would

it

pay in

to 35 per cent. ?

* Palito,

tlie

little

wood,

tlie

tooth-

Ij'ick.
i' "B\it it appears that the carbon here
always escapes in the first instance (''.),

as Mr. BairJ says, a very fine
malleable iron behind, superior to any he
had seen in the furnares in England." Mr.

leaving,

Walsh

(ii.

2nr)).

"

CHAP. XXXI.]

The

TO CATAS ALT AS DE MATO DENTRO.

inner Brazil preserves the Catahxn, or direct process

treating the ore by single fusion,

Even

305

now

of

obsolete in older lands.

the Munjolos* in AVestern, and the Marave

savages in

by adding a chimney for
draught, a rude land of wind-furnace, t Here the forge is a rough
bench of masonr}', ten feet long by two in height, and containing
two or three funnel-shaped basins one foot in diameter, and open
In the rear are the twiers or
at the bottom before and behind.

Eastern, Africa, have improved upon

it

a small
the draught holes for the cold-water blast
stream falling through a rough tube forces the air into a wind-pipe
and drains off below, whence it passes to work the forge-fire and

tu3'eres,

;

Unfortunately the blast cannot be controlled.
broken into pieces about the size of a walnut, without
previous roasting or sifting, and is mixed in the proportion
of one-third to two-thirds of the charcoal, rudely measured by a
basket this mixture is placed in the furnace-basins, which are
previously heated, and at times charcoal is added. As the iron
melts it sinks, and the slag and other impurities are removed
through the front holes opposite the twiers.
The negro in
charge attends to the fire, stirring up the mass from the top with

the tilt-hammer.

The

ore

is

;

a rod or poker, and he knows that the melting process
plete

when

the thick

is

com-

smoke and blue flame have changed

to a

clear white blaze.

The side opening at the bottom of the furnace-basin, which has
been banked up with fine charcoal, is then cleaned, and the workman, with a pair of tongs, pulls out the " bloom " + or " boss."
It is chilled rather than quenched in a large water-bowl containing a layer of charcoal ashes, and

now

it

has the appearance of

pudding being the half-burnt
The clinker is rejected, but there is no puddling to get rid
fuel.
This mineral will disappear under the
of the abundant sulphur.
hammer, showing how tenacious is the ore an inferior quality
would split. But also the wood charcoal, combining with the
iron, has made a kind of steel
were sulphm'ous coal used with
such a process, the produce would be almost worthless.
an amygdaloid,

tlie

raisins of the

;

;

* See Chap. 24.

A

drawing of the IMarave forge is
Muata Cazembe " (p. 38), the
given in "

+

of the Portuguese Expedition of
1831-2 (Lisbon, Imprensa Nacional, 1854).
We can hardly wonder, however, at the
In corudeness of the Brazilian process.

diary

VOL

J.

tlie people were forbidden to
melt an ounce of iron they walked upon
it, but they were compelled to impoi-t their
luetal from Portugal.

lonial days

:

+ This lump

of malleable iron is gene-

rally called a bala, locall/ a

" lupa.

X

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

306

The

last oi^eration is

now

to place the "

[chap. xxxi.

"

bloom

under the
doUeyed and stamped into the shape of a
brick.
No refining process is attempted beyond simple reheating to expel impurities and increase the hardness it is then
replaced under the hammer and drawn out to the required
scanthng. It goes to Morro Vellio in bar, to be used as boyer
iron.
I have already remarked how it lasts out the stamps of
English steel. But the rudest and sunplest process suffices for
such excellent ores witness the Damascus steel forged by the
rude Hindus in the hill-ranges of Bombay. Here an evident
and easy improvement would be to build a stack or even a
cylinder over the basins, and thus to heat the blast.
It will be
long before these men will be persuaded to employ the newly
tilt-hammer, where

it is

;

—

invented s^'stem of electro-magnets.
After an ample breakfast we struck down the River Valley,
guided by Sr. da Costa it was adorned with beautiful figs of the
;

coolest
like

and most

refi-eshing green.

On

our

left

was a

tall,

tm'ret-

outcrop of granular limestone mixed with "lapa,"ahard

clay slate.
tallised

;

The mine was

in a disordered condition

and uncrys-

in one place a horizontal vein cropped out from the

main body.*

Beyond

this point the coarse ferruginous soil

a rabbit warren, burrowed in search

of gold,

now

was

exliausted.

Crossing the Gongo River, we rode up the one street of S. Joao
do Morro Grande, whose newly finished Matriz, with the
pepper-box and round-square belfiies, we had sighted from afar.
It is, comparatively speaking,

an old

xjlace,

and was raised from

villagehood to parochial rank by a Royal Letter of January 28,
1752.
The Serra de Cocaes, tall, stern, and cloud-capped,
walls the left side of the vallej', and on its slope is the little

Gamelleu'as Mine, workmg nine stamps, and belonging to the
Capitao Jose de Aguiar and the Coronel Manuel Tliomaz and
brother.
It is curious to see

how

the soil near the stream has been

tossed and tumbled about during the last 150 years ; the present
" H3^draulicking "
population could by no means have done it.

on an extensive scale was shown
* Here Gardner (p. 494) was misledby
M. von Helmreiclien, who made the Serra
north of the Grongo Soco Mine to nm east to
west, and to be "of a primitive character,

b}^

tlie

long lines of

mass

Upon

leats,

runnmg

of its centre consisting of granite.

this he places schistose

and clay

cropping out at about 45 deg.

slate,

"

TO CATAS ALTAS DE MATO DENTEO.

CHAP. XXXI.]

along the

liill-sides like

b}-

the river beaches and the parallel roads

Above, them mines and diggings,
the rains of many a summer, have been cut into

of often-quoted

deepened
Vesuvian

307

Glen

B.oj.

and craters of red clay.
*
passed thi-ough the little village of " Capim Cheii'oso,"
whose " fle}'- craws," wind-worked figures on tall poles swinging
then- arms to frighten away bu-ds, suggested the presence of
cliffs

We

Beyond

Swiss.

it

is

the Sao Francisco settlement, where three

streamlets meet; near the junction are a

little

tln-ee-windowed

m

mid-stream.
chapel and a wooden bridge with a stone pier
The path ran up the pretty river plain, bright with sugar-cane,

on the right bank of the Brumado stream.

home

It

had a look of

—in these lands
o'erflowing or underflowing — and on the

the rivulet was, without overflowing, full

;

such streams are either
Eeaching the
fm-ther banlc wintry broom rose naked in the aii-.
much decayed village of Brumado, we saw on the left the road
leading to Santa Barbara and the Pari Mine,t and we tm-n rightwards to the great house of Commendador Joao Alves de Sousa
Coutinho.

The

reth-ed courtier, a favomite of the first

gave us a hearty welcome and pressed us to

Emperor,

sta}'.

Here we are close to the property of the Santa Barbara Gold
Mining Company (Limited), of which a section of the public has
assuredly heard. It was formed in 1861 to buy an estate and
fazenda called the "Pari Gold Mme," or "Pari Lode," in the
district of Pu-acicava, parish of S^''^ Barbara, t from which it is
distant about six miles.
Its owner, Coronel Joao Jose Carneii'o
it was purchased for
e Miranda, had long offered it for 5000/.
12,000/., two-thirds in cash and the remainder in shares of 11.
Moreover 18,000L were expended upon getting the mme
each.
into profitable working order, upon an adit for unwatering, and
;

Thus the

upon a new stamping mill of seventj'-two heads.
outlay was just half the capital, 60,000Z.

The
*

"

proposer,

who

visited

it

in 1855, § gave

Sweet-sinelling grass," a Cjiieracea,

Kyllinga odorata (Syst.).

+ "Pari," pronounced mucli like the
French Paris, is a fish trap.
X S'» Barbara, upon the western head
watei-s of the Rio Doce, is said in the reports
15 miles due east of S. Joao do
to be 14
Mon-o Grande, 20 miles north by east
from Gongo Soco, 24 miles from Cocacs, and

—

•

it

a good

total

name

in

54 miles nortli-east of Morro Velho. According to St. Hil. (I. i. 214), wlio -n-rites
"Percicaba, or piracicaba," the Guarani
-words " Pira cy cabS." appear to signify
" shining black fish.
§ In 1850, Dr. Walker reported that
the lode resembled that of Morro Velho
that it was worked underground, but only
by day, and that the ore was stamped,
;

X 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

308

his report.

The

lode, hornblende, quartz,

[chap. xxxi.

and arsenical pyrites,

ran north to south, parallel with the clay slate containing rock.*
At grass the width was 3 4 feet, but below it widened to 7 13.

—

—

been worked to 100 fathoms, but the level was shallow,
The
hardly 80 feet, and the only pump was a hand-pump.
By
auriferous yield was to be upwards of four oitavas per ton.
way of refresher, in April, 1863, a report by an ex-miner of
It has

Gongo
home

Soco,

who had

was sent

thirty years' experience in Brazil,

man

assured all shareholders that the former
proprietor, despite his " crude, imperfect, inefficient, and there;

the worthy

had realised a very handsome property.
Corollary, what a fool he was to sell it
Moreover, the principal
agent, whose son was also one of the mining caj^tains, reported
that he was making five oitavas per ton
other information was
equally favom-able, especially when volunteered by those who
had local interests, such as a store, or a shop, to supply rosefore costly development,"

!

;

coloui'ed specs.

On

the other hand, facts were unreasonable enough to prove

that the hornblende which predominates over the pp-itic formation,

though represented to be easy

refractory substance,

for boring, is

making the quarrying very

an extremely
difficult,

neutralising the auriferous properties of the quartz.

and

After six

now in the hands of
and a very few free
Brazilians.
The slaves have been given up, and sic transit
gloria Sanctae Barbarse
But she may become rediviva in such
matters " imjDossible " must be erased from the dictionary; and
I have heard rumours that she is to be set on her feet once more.
After eating oranges and drinking orange-wine, we bade adieu

years the agent withdrew.

an

ex-mechanic,

two

The works

English

are

miners,

—

!

to the

;

Commendador, leaving with him

Mr. Brown.

A

that extremely enUte

cross road to the west of the highway led

short river valley with a charming " bit of view," crossed a "
or two, and placed us

upon the open sunny Campo.

up a

mud"

I always

return to these pure and airy do-svns with pleasure, especially
after a spell of the "shut forest."
Travellers complain that
they are monotonous, but that depends upon the traveller. As in

the Arabian desert, objects are few, excex)t to those

passed tliroiigli arrastres, and straked In
the usual way.

* Tlie underlay
east.

Is

who know

stated to be 54°

— 55*

CHAP. XXXI.]

TO CAT AS ALTAS DE MATO DENTRO.

where to find them and how to look

for

them.

309

And

there

is

nothing unsightly in the long rolling waves of ground, dotted
over with the j^ellow apple of the Jua, the black woods in the
levels, and the gradual sinking of the foreground into a
smooth horizon of the purest blue.
Here for the first time rose high before us the Serra do
Cara^a,* more poHtely called da Mae dos Homens.
"NVe had
turned its northern bluff without a clear jirosjiect of its form, and
we shall almost circle round it before we return to Morro Yelho.
Though it was so long in sight I was never weary of gazing upon

lower

it,

despite the sage,
Nil tarn mirabile qiiidquam

Quod non minuant mirarier omnes

paulatim."*

Big Face, a huge mass of ii'on
thousand feet f above the high downs.
Its featm'es are grotesquely seamed and dyked with broad and
narrow bands of quartz I standing out from the dark Itacolumite,
and in places there were long vertical shaves of blue-black
After
Jacutinga underl3'ing the hard intercrust of mica slate.
It is a grisly spectacle, that

slate towering several

the

yesterday's rain

ore

had been washed out of the

joints,

making the slides and precipices look as if molten silver were
flowing down a mountain of moulded iron, a grisly casting that
disdains to show a sign of vegetation, and which seems to stand
as

if

defjing the elements for ever.

The southern

end, where

the strata are ahiiost perpendicular, assumes the appearance of a

rhmoceros head nor are nasal horns wanting, the softer parts
of the stone have scaled off, leaving a jagged line of tall pikes,
Looking at it, as we do, from
like the "organs" of Rio Bay.
;

the west,

it

proclaims

its

which Sikandar of Hum.
Darband.

inaccessibility
built

• Cara9a is explained in Portuguese as
Carranca (tetricus vultus) de Pedra (Voc.
Port. & Latin of Padre Raphael Bluteau,
The word is feminine, but
10 vols, folio).
masculine affix, "0
al ways takes the
This confirms the
Cara9a," the ugly face.
legend which derives its name from some
pongo-faced negro, Quilombeiro, who first
Mr. Henwood
lived in its horrid heights.
erroneously calls it "the Cara9as." Mr.
Walsh (ii. 312) is worse still: "Another
was called Serra da Cara from ita likeness
'

'

;

against

to an

it

is

Yajuj

the wall of iron

and

enormous visage."

Majuj

St.

Hil.

at

(I.

i.

218) observes that the word is at once
In the latter
Portuguese and Guarani.
tongue, Cara and ha9a, or Caara9aba, corrected to Caraga, mean a defile.
f Some say 3000 and even 4000 feet,
St. Hil. (I. i. 285), who ascended the highest
peak, lays down the height at nearly 6000
feet above sea-level.
+ Mr. Halfeld informs us that the Cara9a
contains muriate of soda in the strata of
Itacolumite.

;:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

310

BRAZIL.

[cnAr. xxxi.

This '' Big Face Mountain" is the very pivot and centre of the
mid-Minas gokl mines, especially the pyritic formation open the
compass to a radius of 0° 30', sweep round, and the enclosed
The Serra was excircle will all be more or less auriferous.
amined botauically by Spix and Martins, followed by St. Hilaire
Mr, Gordon ascended by the
heav}' rains kept Gardner away.
dangerous
road, with round rolling
and
found
a
face,
southern
along
precipitous
chasms
the pass
and
ledges
stones, over
The
side
is
also
bad.
best
the
south-eastern
by Allegria on
approach is from Brumado, which we have just seen, and up
On the summit is a plateau of some
the easier northern slope.
three square miles, soled b}^ a swamp which dries up in winter
around the margin of this water European vegetables grow to
:

:

perfection.

As

usual with remai'kable mountains in Minas, the Caraca was

long a hermitage where

life

must have been

lighthouse-keeper thirty j-ears ago.
said for

fifty

A

lively as that of a

chapel in which mass was

miles round,* was begun in 1771, and dedicated to

Mae

dos Homens. Near it was a monastery occuj)ied
by a brotherhood of eleven. The works were all made by a
certain Irmiio Louren^o, who belonged to the regicide house of
Tavora. His portrait is still in the College, and he is remembered
He
as a most worthy man who did not "make fire in the sea."
lived there till past 1818, and at his death left to the king his
The congregation of the
hermitage, which became a seminary.
estabhshed by Padi'e
Paul
was
present!}'
Mission of St. Vincent de
in
vii'tue
of the Eoyal Letter
Leandro Eabello Peixoto e Castro,
dated Jan. 21, 1820. It languished till the present Bishop of
Marianna, Avho had been one of the lecturers, returned to it as
Principal, and found there very few pupils. The diocesan collected
funds for a little church and altar-stone to admit of the place
being consecrated and the excellent prelate intends, it is said, to
be buried in it. The now well-known theological college occupies
a secondary ridge on the north-west part of the jDlateau, and when
The
residences were built the Propaganda sent priest-professors.

N^

S'^

;

Principal

France

;

is

M.

INIichel Sipolis,

who has temporarily retm-ned to
M. Francois Sipolis,

the Vice -Principal was his brother

* So says Henderson, wi-iting in 1821.
In 1831, St. Hil. (I. i. 220) described the
mountain plateau, which he visited in

1S16;
ren50."

he also

mentions

" Frere

Lou-

CHAP. XXXI.]

TO CATAS ALT AS DE MATO DENTRO.

whom we

shall frequently'- meet,

astics, all

well-educated men.

311

and there were three other ecclesi-

Our track lay up and down hills of yellow clay, thinly greened,
and presently we fell into the Santa Barbara, or main road that
leads from Ouro Preto to Diamantma.
This, the most important
line of communication in the Province, appears hereabouts a
respectable highway near the City of Diamonds it will become
detestable.
On the right was a ranch whose palms, coffee-shrubs
and bamboos, larger than usual, argued a warmer climate.
Approaching a well-bridged stream, the " Bibeirao da BitanAt
coui-t," we saw from afar a phenomenon that puzzled us.
length, straining our e3'es like so many D. Quixotes, we distin;

guished, not windmills, but a cavalcade of eleven Sisters of Charity

mounted on poor hack-mules, and

in gull-wing caps,
like

Canterbury Pilgrims, in single

travelling,

under the escort of two

file

They had been sent from the Laranjeiras establishRio de Janeiro to found a branch house at Diamantina.
unfortunatel}', the only
AYe halted and addressed mes soeurs
pretty Sister, who, moreover, sat her horse well, and who wore
a neat riding-skirt, went forward, and would not join in the
chat.
M. Francois Sipolis, carrying his full-grown metal cross,
was in command of the detachment, and recognised Mr. Gordon,
j)riests.

ment

at

:

and the Sisters my wife
loud and hot were the greetings.
This priest, still young, had come to the Brazil in his salad days,
and he has perhaps been too long here I could hardly tell his
nationality. The rear was brought up by a j'outh in soutane, with
sallow greenish skin, and apparently a double supply of eyes,
behind and before he most diligently perused his breviary, while
he took iuAvard stock of everybody and everything. Thus, the
King of Dahome's system of duplicate officials is not always
desj)ised by the civilised and the Jesuitic order touching the
;

:

:

mission of their " apostles."

Misito

illos

vinos

is still

carried out

engaged myself to meet M. Sipohs at Diamantina
we then shook hands and parted a Vaimahle.
After long sighting the grassy slopes below the settlement, we
crossed a " lavapes "* in the shape of a bright little stream flowing

in the Brazil.

I

:

•

"Wash

This name is given to
feet."
stream nearest the settlement.
It reminds one of olden Tuscany, where the
peasant girl carried her shoes and stockings
the

little

in
oflF

"

hand till near the to'^vTi, when she washed
the mud, and appeared in public like a

respectable person."

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

312

over

its

black Jacutinga bed

;

it

[chap. xxxi.

rises in the Caraqa,

and forms one

Our hoofs

clattered loud

of the head waters of the Rio Doce.

over the rugged pavement of the silent " Catas Altas," called

" de Mato Dentro,"* although the forest has long ago been

Mr. Gordon had sent his man forwards, and
we found all prepared at the " Hotel Fluminense e Bom Pasto
Feixado,"i kept by the Lieut. -Colonel Joiio Emery. The son of
English ]3arents, and thoroughly John Bull in burliness of look,
the host could speak onl}" Portuguese. As he explained himself,
the face was British, but all the rest was Brazilian.
It too often
happens in this Empii-e that the father and mother become accustomed to talk their mangled Lusitanian en famille, and thus
the children, with the harsh featm-es and the freckled faces of the
far north, cannot answer the simplest question in the language
cleared away.

of their ancestors.

From

the hotel we could easily see the diggings in the eastern

cheek of the Caraga. The upper stratum is a rich ochreous clay
some twenty feet deep, overlying fine micaceous slate, that rests
ujion compact magnetic ii'on, and the latter has always been fomid
in

fiU'

greater abundance than gold.

In the lower beds run the
fire and

veins of ferruginous quartz which used to be split "udth

stamped

for precious metal.

The

eye chose out three huge exca-

vations resembling craters and ranged in line, duly flanked by two

Casas Grandes. The easternmost is the " Pitangui," I the Lavra do
Padre Vieira, which belongs to a Brazilian association and by
which flows the "lavapes." Next to it is Boa Vista, the La\Ta do
Francisco Vieira, brother to the padre
business

and further on

;

is

;

an old

it has lately done a little
houseless pit called " O

Machado." Besides these, the Brumadinho, the Bananal, and the
Durao, are spoken of by the people. They were mostly worked
out before 1801, and mining enterj)rise is now far beyond the
local pm'se.
All sui)j)osed that we were going to buy, and whispered, with the bated breath of a
firom

Rome, the

* Thus distinguished from Catas Altas

de Noroega.

+ The Minas pronunciation
ado."

The

of

"

fech-

done by the senon arriving is to ask and
look after the pasture.
If he wishes to
make an early start, he must always place
first tiling

sible traveller

London

police magistrate fresh

vast riches liidden in the mountain's lean bowels.

beasts in a "close pastui-e," where
ditch or palings prevent their straying.
J Some say that to the east of the Pitangui and the Morro de Agua Quente, is
" Cuiaba," a mine worked by the Gongo
Soco Company when their head-quarters
his

began to

fail.

t

CHAP. XXXI.]

TO CATAS ALTAS DE MATO DENTEO.

313

Whilst dinner was being served up, we easily visited the town,
which dates from 1724 since its mines failed it has become very
:

poor, and the inhabitants support

life by corn-growing and cattleThese sunple and innocent occupations, Georgic and
Bucohc, ought to make them happy they look downcast as Meliboeus or Corj'don, and, as their dull lives are hardly worth keei:)ing,
the}' live long and die hard.
The single street has, besides the
Matriz N^ S''' da Concei^ao, three chapels, a Rosario, a S'* Quiteria,
and a Bomfim. The porticoed mother church, which fronts a

breeding.

;

neat sloping square,

is

abundantly painted

;

even the balustrade

round the tower is a deception not likely to deceive. The interior
is quaintly and curiously ornamented with old twisted pillars,
and, a novena being in prospect, cut and coloured paper extended
from floor to roof. The rotulas* and balcony of the vicar. Padre
Francisco Xavier Augusto da Franca, were crowded with ladies preparing for the festival. His reverence told me that he was entering
his eightieth year.
"Why is it that after seventy a man must tell
you his age inevitably, as if he had shot the albatross ? He spoke
of a parishioner who had lately died set. 119, and he estimated his
cure to extend over 3900 souls, of whom some 490 only were
slaves.
* The old wooden lattice work which
formed a kind of hanging closet outside
each window, and .sometimes extending
along the house face.
Being handier than
even an Affghan " Sangah " when a quiet
shot was to be fired, they were suppressed

1808, when the Court of Portugal
changed quarters from Lisbon to Rio de
in

Janeiro.

+ The Almanack

of

1865 believes the

slave popixlation not to exceed 488.

CHAPTER XXXII.
TO MARIANNA.
Torrao que de seu ouro se nomeava,
Por crear do mais fino ao pe das Serras
Mas que feito em fim baixo e mal prezado
nome teve de " Ouro Inficionado."
;

CaramurCi,

The

night was exceptionally cold, we slept soundly', and on

the next day, a harmless Friday,

when

4, 21,

the

humid darkness seemed

we were on

Almost at odds with morning, which,

Instead of

makmg

south-south-east,

foot at an

hour

to be
is

which.

" Inficionado " by the direct road to the

we were

to cover

an

equilateral triangle of

twelve miles to "Fonseca," where the combustible matter

is,

and then to malve our nighting place, as much further.
We resumed the Campo road, and after two miles with a few
rough ascents and descents, we reached the little village Morro
d'Agua Quente. While fordmg the streamlet, we were shown an
island in w^hicli an English miner was buried.
He had pledged
himself to unwater the Agua Quente mine, and had set up some

pumping

mches in diameter, made of ^vi-oughtBut even these failed he redeemed his
Avord like the last of the Romans, by going to Kmgdom Come.
"There was," said the satmcal Mr. B., "but one honest
Cornishman m Minas, and he went and hanged himself."
Mr. Gordon had some business to transact with a decent
Brazihan bodv, the widow of an Irishman emploved at Morro
Velho his other five relicts are not so easily managed. Meanwhile we put up at a little tavern kept by Sr. Leandro Francisco
Arantez, an energetic young man who has a concession for
working the seam which we had come to see. The Province is
fine

gear, eighteen

iron plates from home.

;

—

—

TO MARIANNA.

CHAP. XXXII.]

315

thorougiily alive to the necessitj'- of supplanting seaborne coal by

and has offered £2000 for the discovery of the grand
Sr. Arantez showed us with just i)ride the gold
medal which had been conferred upon him in 1863, when he hit
the reverse showed the head of
upon the doubtful substance
H. I. Majesty, and Bene meritum premium was on the obverse.
He told us his many troubles, how the people had discouraged
him in every possible way, and had named his trouvaille " raiz de
Brazilian,

desideratum.

:

pan"

—

root.

tree

So in the Province of

S.

Paulo, when, at

the end of the last generation, certain innovators proposed to

abandon the valueless sugar growing,
as "planters of

for coffee, they

were derided

fi'uit."

—

—

hot water derives its name from a thermal
which was covered by an earthslip. In 1825, Caldcleugh
spoke with an old man who remembered drinking " agua morna,"
lukewarm water, but he did not remember if it had any smell.
Others declare that the heated element once appeared in the

Agua Quente

spring,

As

mine.
of

its

usual, the village has decaj-ed, together Avith the cause

origin

another.

:

it

has 68 houses within reasonable distance of one

The Companj^'s

old store

still

exists at Bananal, near

Agua Quente, but no work is done there. Above the mine is a
peak, known as Morro d'Agua Quente, and from this our
destination, " Fonseca," bears due south-east.

Accompanied by Sr. Ai-antez, we ascended a very steep hill
upon the Chapada. Here the ground rang under
the hoof as if iron plated in places it sounded hollow, suggesting
that the thin crust might easily cave in, and such hereabouts
is the formation generall}-.
The appearance of the mmeral
reminded me of the laterite in Malabar and Western India, but
here it is the richest haematite. Dr. Couto found the village of
Agua Quente built uj)on immense dej^osits of copper sheets of
the red variety, chequered and sprinkled with the ashy mineral,
forming a chess-board of pleasing appearance. To the left was
that placed us

;

;

the Serra da Batea, a southern butt-end of the great Serra do

Frio.*

On

tionall}'

ribbj',

the right, and falHng to the rear, looking excep-

rose the peaked mountain, Caraca,

the dangerous road

seen to Avind.
Passing a small fazenda, " do Moreira "

down which

is

* This must not be confounded

-nitli

—not

to be

confounded

the Cerro do Frio, fiuiher north, around the city

of Cerro, or Serro, the old Villa do Principe.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

316

[chap, xxxii.

with the Freguezia of Paulo Moreii-a, twelve leagues from Gongo
Soco, a little south of east we found a basin separated by a
" knife-board " from one contiguous
both are gentle hollows

—

;

of

considerable

The easternmost showed

size.

at the side

small winding stream, the 3'oung Piracicava, and on

its

a

bank lay

Fonseca, a chapel and scattered huts, like a new mining locality.
Around, the land looked dr}" and sun-burnt the dead brooms
and withered ferns covered in patches hundreds of acres, and
their dull sombre brown-grey will darken the brightest and
This is a sign of a dry porous soil the
cheeriest landscape.
tender root of the Samambaia* cannot penetrate the tough clay.
In the Brazil, where the fern is supposed to follow overfiring
and exhausting the ground, when once it has taken possession
In New Zealand the clover kills the fern
the case is hopeless.
as the white man's rat destroj's the native rat, and the European
perhaps it would do so here.
fly drives away the Maori fl}'
:

:

:

Now, the

sole

branch, and to

precaution
let

beasts

cut

to

is

the

graze upon the

plants before
roots,

they

we do

as

in

England.

In the Brazil, as in Tibet, peasants eat the j^oung
M. Hue
shoots of a kind of fern (" Samambaia do Mato ")
:

compared

We

it

—height of imagination —with asparagus.
!

descended to a "gulch," in which there

is

a

little

stream,

the Corrego de Og6,t and the opening faced north-west by north.
This is the place where the coal was found, accompanying sandThe dip of the rock is 70° ; the strike
stone-grit and haematite.

and the cleavage planes are as nearly as
The water, as usual, here showed signs of
iron, and carbonate of Imie ajipeared in the eastern wall, where
drops had trickled down. We found the same formation higher
up, and our guide told us that the coal was also in the Valley of
the Piracicava, and in the western basin by which we had

is

west- south-west,

possible east to west.

ridden.

We

traced

it

a few yards

ginous riU, which, after two miles,

Here

The

also

Avas,

falls

ferru-

into the Piracicava.

which had given gold.
however, " muito fi-i-i-no," as our com-

was a quartzose and

precious metal

down the Corrego, a

pyritic rock,

* Older %\Titers prefer the less eiiphoEic

Sambambaia, and Sambambaial, a (natural)
femei7. From one of these ferns (Mertenfii
dichotoma), pipe stems are made, and fixed
to a little head of black clay.
+ Ogo is described to be a base yellow

metal found in sand, and used to falsify
Others tell us that it floats in water,
gold.
and is therefore probably mica, now called
jropularly

" Malacacheta. "

St.

Hil.

(I.

341), speaks of a " sable brillant^ appele
Og(5 qui se trouve du cote de Sahara."
i.

TO.

CHAP. XXXII.]

MARIANNA.

317

panion said, raising his voice almost an octave, to denote the
superlative of fineness, that

is to say,

of minuteness.*

The combustible appears in small
much mixed with clay and sandstone

and broken layers
we did not find a single
lignite, or brown coal, known
pieces

:

It was mostly transition
Paulo as " tipota :" distinctly modern, ligneous of apOther pieces
jjearance, and burning with the smell of wood.
from the same locality are smooth and black, like obsidian or
sealing-wax, conchoidal in fracture, highly inflammable, and

block.
in

S.

smoke and gas

gi^dng out tliick

in quantities.

It

is,

in fact,

our
be found useful when the old reverbere
and the kerosine are clean forgotten. I recognised the formation, having already examined at the Fazenda of a certain Dr.
cannel coal,

and

it

will

Eafael, near Old Cacapava, in the Valley of the Parahyba River,

Province of Siio Paulo, a very similar basin, whose lignite overlies

cannel coal

:

here,

however, at a greater depth, occurs

diamond which does not soil the
and which bm-ns without smoke. Before working these
places, the mam consideration is whether the formation be
the exploratory works should
sufficiently extensive to pay
In Minas I nowhere observed
certainly not cost more than 200L
the great deposits of sulphurous or bituminous shale which
occupy the Valleys of the Southern Parahyba and the Upper
Tiete, and which will some day supply the land with petroleum.
These must be sought fm-ther east, and they will probably be
found upon the lower courses of the Pio Doce, the Mucur}-, and
the Jequitinhonha or Belmonte.
We then rode up the rough western wall of the eastern basin,
and met with water everywhere, even near the top. This is a
common featiu'e both in Minas and S. Paulo the stranger is
often sm'prised to see a crystal spring welling from the brow of a
hill.
The only trace of game was the " Frango do Campo," or
Prau-ie Chicken, plumed like the water-rail, short-legged, and to
be mistaken for a yomig hen that has escaped from the poultr}-anthracite,

a veritable black

fingers,

:

;

yard.

The

Siriema, or Serpent-bird, ran before us in the path,

and represented the turkey.
At the Fazenda do Moreira, Mr. Gordon bade us a temporary
* This custom, very general in the Brazil,
probably descended from the aborigines, who
expressed the superlative by intonation.
St.

Hil,

(III.

ii.

62),

says

that

" Ouro

fino " denotes
it

may have

in the text.

'
'

la belle qualite

de cet or

:"

this signification, or that given

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

318

adieu

:

lie

[cuAr. xxxii.

was to regain Morro Yellio via Agua Quente, whilst we

at Inficionado.
We descended a long liill,
passing near the bottom-water a small iron fomidry, and by a
tedious ascent we made a Chapada, which, like that of the

intended to sleep

morning, was a plain of ii-on, hollow-sounding as a pot.

we saw the curling smoke

From

afar

of the settlement, and the black outlines

of " Cata Preta," * which was worked to

little purpose by the Gongo
Soco Company, and which now belongs to the Commendador owner
of the mine. Then we dropped into a deep road, a hollow way, like
the lanes of fail' Touraine, once so familiar to me, and presently
below us flowed the river, broad and clear, crossed by a tolerable
bridge.
We lost no time in transferring ourselves to the hostelry

of Sr. Francisco Cesario de Macedo, at the

southern end of the

village.

During the evening we

M-all^ed

S^ de Nazareth do Inficionado

N^
The

out to see the ''parishry of

"—of

the Infected (gold).

cognomen was given because the metal at first seemed excellent,
but presently showed the cloven foot. The '' Infected" is now
the

usual long, wretchedly-paved street or rather section of
high-road, whilst horse-shoeing and grain-selling at a dear rate

A

to bezonian travellers ajipear the principal industries.

chafariz fronts the matriz,

on the other side of the Piracicava, a thin scafi"olding
surrounded the tall black cross, which was being duly armed.

priest

dry

and there are two chapels, but never a

;

still

The fashionable skin was a sallow brown, and people showed a
mixture of races, with much inter-marriage. Cripples and beggars
were unusually numerous.
I saw two cases of hydrocephalus,
one with soft the other with hard head both creep upon the
;

ground, and have forgotten the use of their "immortal souls." At

Barbacena the mouth
slightly protruded;

is

worn open

;

at S.

here the villagers

Joao the tongue

"made

at us

is

a pair of

eyes" and laughed in our faces the laugh of semi-idiotcy, wliilst
one of them audibly remarked that my "companion" f was " uma

senhora muita capaz"

was

civil

—highly trustworthy.

and obliging;

The host, however,
he did not even murmm- when our

The "Black Pit."

t The
wife- as

demoiselle, Lut no

Brazilian gentleman speaks of

" Minha Mulher. "

liis

The countiy
The rest

people call her " Companheira. "
say,
li

'

Mmha

ranee,

Senhora

"—my

the l)ourgeois has a

lady.

So in

dame and a

femme

or

fille

:

in the

United States, not to speak of England, the
"
hotel books abound in " Mr. A. and lady
—a nseful prevarication if Mr. A. he not
travelling with his own spouse,

—

—

TO MARIANNA,

CHAP. XXXII.]

319

exceedingly careful fellow-traveller found a sixjience wrong in
tlie

mules' rations, and with loud " blatlieration " performed the

operation of docldng.

Cata Preta boasts of one great

Durao was born

Fr. Jose de Santa Rita

bii-th.

there about 1737; this old worth}- was the son of an

wont to
During these forty-seven
3-ears he wrote a number of poems, of which the best known is
"0 Caramm-u,"* an epic
hendecasyllabics, numbermg the
normal ten cantos. Had the Lusiads never been created, this
production would have become world-famous as it is, the echo
of the older and grander strain haunts the reader's ear.
Even
the sententious trick of the line terminatmg the stanza is preserved.
For instance, the exordium
energetic Portuguese colonist, and he died, as poets were
do, in the hospital of Lisbon, 1784.

m

:

Of the stout spirit whom no toil could tame,
Nor daunt the rage of occidental waves
Who the Reconcave,+ ever dear to Fame,
Which still the haught Brazil's high city laves,
Explored the " Thunder-Son," whose fearful name
Could rule and tame the savage Indian braves,
I sing the valour proved by adverse fate
;

;

Who

masters fortune, he alone

is

great.

The poem was hastily thrown oiF, and was printed in 1781.
The Visconde de Almeida-Garrett, liimself a most distinguished
poet as well as prose writer and critic, says of it, " Where the poet
has contented himself with simply expressing the truth, he has

most beautiful octaves, some of them even sublime." M.
Ferdinand Denis, an early historiographer of Brazilian literature,
declares it to be a "national epopee, which interests and excites
the reader; " andM. Eugene Garay de Mongiave has translated it
into French.
It might, I think, appear in an English dress with
much judicious curtailment, and A\'itli the prosaic portions reduced
Avritten

to plain prose.

On

— a thu'teenth be

the next day

Tnficionado at a late hour.
*

A

certain Diogo Alvares of Yiana

was

^^recked at Baliia, where the land swarmed
with savages by the iise of his musket he
rose, like Mr. Coffin of Abyssinia, to high
:

rank amongst them.
is

usually translated

—

it duly remembered
we left
Eain was brewing in front, the effect

The Indian nickname
" Jlau of fire:" it

"the electric eel." The
Thunder" was the title given to

properly signifies,

" Son

of

Diogo Alvares, wlio married the " Princess"
Paragua9u.
f (_) Keconcavo is aj^plied to the magiiificcnt Day of S. Salvador (da Bahia).

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

320

[chap, xxxii.

of the " Serra de Ouro Preto," which indulges in a perpetual
night-cap of heary wet. We began with the high-road, or, as it
" cart-road," to Marianna city, and we found
is here called, the

some

luxuries, such as the rivulets cleared of their large

round

We

were not, however, bej^ond the old wheel-tii'e -with
knobs, which bite the slippery clay ground, and
iron
projecting
which over-work the trains upon the levels. Presentl}' we turned
stones.

into a bridle-path, exceptionally

climbing up and

down

stairs.

bad

The

;

our mules seemed to be

material

glarmg white
easily trodden and
is

a

quartzose sandstone, soft and laminated; it is
weathered into holes and ledges. The formation is akin to the
so-called Itacolumite which supplies Diamantina with its gems.
There are mines around, rude diggings in clayey sand, mixed

with coarse ferruginous gravel and debris fi-om the schistose rocks
of the Serra.

After an hour we descended to the hamlet " Bento Rodriguez,"
wliich lies between the forks of the river Gualaxo,* a vitreous

stream in a ruddy pink bed, which contrasts charmingly with the
verdm-e around. The eastern or further water, even at

lively

this season,

a

*'

was girth-deep

:

the ruins of a bridge were there, and

pingela," which here represents the hanging bridge of Peru,

showed that after rains the clear waters became unfordable.
Another rise and fall led to a " Devil's Glen," a deej) dark
hollow, with strata highly tilted up, and a mountain burn
plashing down the bottom, crossed by a single arch.
About
village
with
noon we reached Camargos, a small
a stream in red
sands below, and a very big church standmg on a hill to pray, a
veritable Pharisee.
At this half-way house a little venda gave us
shade and a few words of civihty and chatting about war-news
produced oranges om* only expense for entertamment was dd., the
cost of a bottle of cachaca.
The Brazil, like Bussia and other
young comitries, is a place of exceeding cheaj)ness for those who
live, as the Anglo-Indian saying is, "country-fashion," on beans,
charqui, and native rum.
On the other hand, imported articles
double their London jirices, and anything out of the ordinary way
is inordinately expensive.
Those who think that they cannot
;

:

* Gualaxo do Norte, by Henderson
written Guallacho.
The water is so called
from a neighbouring Fazenda, and it feeds

the Rio Doce proper.
We have
the Valley of the Piracicava.

uow

left

II Al".

TO MARIANNA.

XXXII.

321

spend money here will marvel at the cost of beef-steaks and
beer, fresh butter and English cheese.
Camargos on this line towns and villages greatly resemble
it has a
one another sows and breeds lilce its neighbours
small industr}^ in the matter of gold, once so abundant, and it
can also export iron. From this district came the tea which

—
—

:

gold medal in the Great Exhibition of 1862 * we
saw the plantations, rather shabby below, but rich in
I had not
the higher lands, fronting the Bom Retiro Fazenda.
met with the shrub since leaving the Province of Siio Paulo, and
it was the fiice of an old friend.
Ascending the Morro da Yenda da Palha,t we enjoyed a noble
To the north, under " a sky of wonview of enormous extent.
drous height," rose the peak of " Itabira do Mato Dentro," a mere
knob rising from the horizon plain, and distant, as the crow flies,

gained

tlie

:

presentl}'

Eastward a tall blue screen, hardly distinguishfrom the clouds, denoted the valley wall of the Rio Doce.

forty-five miles.

able

In front surged the lumpy Serra de Ouro Preto, with a red road
seaming, like a ribbon,

its

slopes of green.

was descent. The path became worse, and
the half-devoured remnants of a cow lying across the hne did not
speak well for the new mines. Down the ruddy slope we fell into
By
a country of Canga and Jacutinga, like that of Gongo Soco.
known
as
settlement,
better
Santa
Anna
Morro
de
degrees, the
"
opened
absurdity,
complicated
the
D. Pedro Norte del Rey," a
out before us.
The site is a bleak and treeless hill-side, fronting
east, "rugged as cliffs on the seashore," with its tall, naked face
burrowed for gold an ugly contrast to the picturesque approach
On the upper level appears, en
that characterises Morro Velho.
profile, the chapel, a white box, surrounded by the dull clay huts
Below it are the hospital, the houses
of the native workmen.
of the ofl&cers, the white quarters of the English miners, the Casa

From

that point

all

;

and well situated, and the " blacks' kitchen,"
and bare. The latter surmounts a
dwarf eminence rising from the valley sole, the " Corrego da

Grande,

large, neat,

a tall, white tenement, bald

*
The only complaint was that it
wanted a certain aroma. This arose from
Moreover the specimens
its being too new.

were so scanty that they could not be subThe principal tea
mitted to sufficient test.
grower of the Province is now the S'jnatnr

VOL.

I.

Ouro Preto, the owner
Fazenda do Tesoureiro.
t From Camargos to Marianna there is
an older road, Ijdng east of the line by
which we travelled,

Teixeira
of

Bom

cle

Souza

of

Retiro, or

Y

THE HIGHLANDS UF THE

.•322

Canella," upon wliose "bottom

knd

liKAZIL.

[chap.

are the sliops,

pentry, stamps, and other fm-niture.

xxxn.

smithy, car-

Here, too, were extensive

washings made in the olden day.
Fortunately I had sent on Miguel with our introductory letter.
The trooper met us before we reached the house, and now^ we
learned for the

time that Mrs.

fii'st

Thomas

three

years in the

Brazil,

English home in June

last.

Treloar, the Superin-

She had passed

tendent's wife, was not expected to live.

thii'ty-

and had intended returning to an
The " six months more " are some-

times as fatal in the Brazil as in Hindostan.
We retired from a sun " enough to roast a Guinea man," to the

Venda, wretched as an inn in Stja'ia, and considered the case. Dr.
George Mockett, for whom also we had letters, was in attendance
upon Mrs. Treloar and her son-m-law, Mr. Francis S. Symons,
Manager of the Passagem Mine, was momentarily expected.
Nothing remained but to ride on two miles, and trust to the
;

tender mercies of a Marianna hostehy.

We

Corrego da Canella

forded the

and passed over

twice,

Here the houses thicken

sundry hill-spurs.

to a suburb, every

second "ranch" shows stakes for tethering mules, and saddleWe remark that the whole
is added to horse-shoeing.

making

road no longer presents the gloomy picture of ruins and deserted
by Dr. Couto in 1801. But in those days, the

villages traced

mining population, mostly coloured, lingered about their exhausted diggings

where

we

now they have

;

saw

bullocks'

hides

applied to other work.
stretched

out

in

Ever}'-

the

usual

upon a frame-work of sticks, the ground being
thus they obtain the
too damp to permit pegging them down
easily
be moved out of
benefit of smi and wind, and they can
Brazilian fashion

;

the rain.

The

skins,

which in the dry season,

after a

few days'

exposure, become hard and board-like, are used to cover mule
loads by day, and to act couch at night
are the bed, sofa,

:

in the wilder parts they

and mattress, and in stools and

they

settles

supplant the rattan.

Then we forded the " Pdbeirao do Carmo,"* which divides
the city proper from a large suburb, the " Bairro de Monsus :"
higher up the stream there

is

a

wooden bridge on stone

* This is the River of Marianna, now popularly kuo\vai as the
shall ascend its vallev dnritK; the next two mai'ches.

piers,

"Rio YermelLo. "

We

(

-fvi-.

TO MAlllANXA.

XXXII.]

From

used during the rains.

323

this point is the prettiest view of

me

the ecclesiastical capital, which reminded

The

Coimbra.

of picturesque old

houses, here white, there red,

pink and yellow,

from the right bank of the rivulet, which the poets
have compared with the Mondego,* and appear based upon and

rise in steps

mingled

with

green

rich

palms,

Jaboticabeira,

lines

clumjis

aiul

the

of

domed

and bright-flowering

oranges,

plantains,

shrubs.

Ascending a ramp, we left on the right the Ribeirao do
gardens now bloom in its bed, but a long stone bridge
proved that it has not alwaj^s been dry. A vilely-paved street
led us north-east to the Largo da Cadea, in whose centre still
stands the pillory of colonial days, the first which I have seen
in the Brazil.
It shows the holes by which criminals were
tied up, and it is surmounted by globe and crown, sw^ord and
Cattete

and the iron hooks

scales,

The

:

also

jail,

guild-hall,

is

limbs

wdiich

to

a

were

squat,

quaint,

suspended.

old-fashioned

building, with a complicated entrance curiously painted, and a

of S. Francisco, tawdry in exterior

the Cathedral being under

Carmo,

do

^^ith

repair.

usual

the

the Church
the temporary " Se,"

Fronting

few black soldiers were on guard.
:

is

it

To

its

it

right

round-square

or

is

is

the

N^

S^'

pepper-caster

towers.

Evidently we

are

in a city which

clerical

is

and not com-

that of cathedral towns generally, from
Itu in S. Paulo to Durham and Canterbury before the age of
" Formigoes " big black ants as the black soutane'd
railways.

mercial

the dulness

:

is

—

—

students are called in waggishness,
fares,

and

loll listless

through the thorough-

stroll

about the shops.

The

store-keeper leans

with elbows upon his counter, and stares vacantly at the street,
or muses and smokes cigarettes in concert with a friend or
friends, seated

* Claudio

more

upon

I\Iaimel

ila

stools nearer the door.

Costa,

of

wliom

wrote a poem upon the
When Apollo hail
do Carino.

hereafter,

llibeirao

nymph Eulina, this amorous
the latter, in redrain cursed the god
venge, taught men to v.ound the bank for
gold and precious stones, and to stain the
At length, the
crystal current with blood.
Ribeirao, mad with despair, rushed down a
rock and was dashed to pieces.
l)r. Hcnrirpie Cezar Muzzio, Chief Seci-e-

stolen the

:

Negro urchins squat

tary to the Presidency of Minas, and afterwards of Sao Paulo, has presented the
original of this poem, " Villa llica," to H.

Dr. Claudio died unmarried,
Majesty.
but he left nieces the latter attempted,
when the Brazil became an Empire, to
establish their rights, and applied to the
usual officer, the " Procurador dps feitos da
Unhappily the papers had disfazenda."
appeared, and the cause was lost.

I.

:

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

324

upon

tlie stejis,

Avhicli are

[chap, xxxii.

and dogs,

or tiy conclusions with vagrant pigs

apparently the main items of population

one of the

:

creatures, who certainly had not heard of Joan Dare, bawled out
" Godam," as we rode by.
Old black women hobbled about

picking up rags and compost

men

going barefooted

Here and there

—a

;

and we remarked sundry white

very unusual spectacle in the Brazil.

a profusion of straight, glossy

blossom on the
mixed blood, engaged

hair, with a bright red

and a face

of

ver}'

left

and well-greased

side of the head,*

" serious

the

in

study of street scenery," inform the practised eye that, as
might be expected where j'oung men are "reading for the
Church," Anonyma is as well known as to those who "live at
Gondar."
Descending into the Largo da Pra^a, a grassy square, sloping
eastward, we came upon the Hotel Mariannense, the best of the
three inns.
The host, Sr. Antonio Ferreira, who complicates the
Boniface with the Figaro the reception room was in fact a
barber's shop
began bj^ charging us heavily for pasture and
maize. But we are now on the high road, where the leagues
become better because shorter,! and the prices worse, because
longer.
AVe ended with a bill which would have done honour to

—

—

the Hotel des Ambassadeurs, St. Petersbm-g.

The establishment was the t^-jDical estalagem or country inn
From the barber's room ran a long corridor

the old Brazil.

the back of the house, and
risked falling through.
ever3'thing but dirt,

was so badly boarded that one

it

The bed chambers, with

showed plank couches, a

The passage

times a table.

of
to

walls bare of

chair,

and some-

leads to the dining-room,

distin-

guished only by an armoire, whose glass front exj^oses spare
china, cruets, condiments, a few bottles, and j^ots of provision.
The normal " punch-bath " will not be ready for half an hour,

time is not Avorth a thought here, and
next to impossible. The negroes and negresses

the dinner for two hours
regularity' is

:

prefer staring, whisijering, and giggling, to work, however light

never less than one screaming child to make nightand generally there are two fierce dogs that bark and
bay responsively at the shadow of an opportunity. The feeding
there

horrid

*

is
;

The man-ied wear

light side of the head.
t Here the league

tl.e

flower on the

may Le assumed

at

tlu-ee

geogi'aphical miles

further
waxes.

it is

from the

:

as a rule, the
the longer it

cajiital,

!

TO MARIANNA.

CHAr. xxxii.]

is

32:)

that of the " venda;" there are " Irish potatoes," the ''famine

root," because

Ricinus

oil,

we are

in a city

;

and the

lights are not

lamps of

hut composition candles, for which we shall have to

suffer in the purse.

And

yet,

churches

to

these

three

wretched

inns

there

are

nine

CHAPTER

XXXIII.

AT MARIANNA.
" La race Portugaise
du monde, et que la

s'est

emparde en Amerique de

Natiu-e semble

bienfaita."— Castclnau (Ex^jklition,

iii.

avoir pris

la contree la plus

iilaisir

admirable

a combler de tous ses

chap. 33).

In 1699, when Joao Lopes de Lim;i, a Paulista explorer, disEio Vermelho," which we have just forded,
the miners built the *' Ai-raial do Carmo."
This became, in
April 8, 1711, the "Villa de Albuquerque," under the Governor
of that name, and in the same year it was changed to " Leal
Villa de N'' S^ do Carmo."
Public documents* granted jsrecedence in all processions and public " Acts " to its Camara, as the
senior ^dilitv in the Province.
A royal letter from D. Joao V.
(April 23, 1745) raised it to the rank of " Cidade Marianna," or
covered, gold in the "

" Marianopolis," so christened after the Austrian princess that
sat upon the throne of Portugal.
In 1750 the Quint alone ex-

ceeded 100 arrobas of gold per annum.
Tliis in 1799 fell to a
more than one -third.! But, as Dr. Couto remarks, the
mitre then j^roved the best mine.
Httle

The

finest

view of the ecclesiastical city

is from the southern
where the Church of Sao Pedro is being or
rather is not being built.
The plan shows some attempt at
art, unlike the others which liave gro^ni out of being barns with-

rim of

tlie

—

basin,

—

out acquiring the dignity of temples.

and attached

It has

two unequal bays,

to the southern, or greater, is a rectangular sanc-

The clocherium, also composed of sandstone grit, resting
upon soHd foundations, awaits completion. The two bells are slung
to the normal gaUows outside, and there are graves which bother
tuary.

with their suggestive " II faut mourir
joj-ment.
* ^'"^ted
'

"

The
July 17,

"

those who are here for enfacade bears the keys and episcopal hat and mitre.
1723,

and Feb. 21,

+

r.Iore

exactly 3S arrobas, 12 marcos.

and 6 ounces.

AT MARIANNA.

ru\r. xx>aii.]

327

Tlie pilasters end barbarously in scrolls over the main entrance,
and the side windows are not on the same plane. The body is
partially covered with a zinc roof, which occasionally falls in,
and the principal inhabitants are taperas swifts or devilings.
Marianna lies below, couched on the pleasant western slopes,
and extending to the sole of the valley, Avhich is drained northwards by the serpentine Eio Vermelho. About the white mass
of tenements lie diggings in red ground, and black Jacutinga
heaps are the vestiges of its old youth. This basin, situated in
a sub -range of the Serra do Itacolumi, wliich closes it on the
south, is 2400 feet above sea-level.
It suffers from the neblina,
or morning fog, often deepening to a drizzle, but not so bad as
and it is succeeded by sun which glows
that of Ouro Preto

—

;

in the cloudless sky

evening.

till

It is reported that during the

This, however, must

rains its bleak cold causes severe catarrhs.

be taken cum (jrano, as the equatorial clove-tree flourishes in the

open

Eight fountains supply the city

air.

ferruginous, and where there

is

scarcity

it

water slightly

vAi\\

from extensive

arises

disforesting.

AVe were reminded that Marianna

is

a bishopric*

by

a

prodigious

tumult and clatter of Angelas bells and chimes, a tutti of the

on Saturday evening. On the Sunday there was a
" Missa de Madrugada," or dawn-mass for the tattered many w^ho

steeples,

did not like to

show

theii'

rags at a later hour

;

and shortly

afterwards the Sisters of S. Vincent de Paul, a branch house of

Rue du Bac,

At 8 a.m. there was
set up the usual chaunt.
which began at 7*30 a.m., and thus the stranger was
apt to miss it.
At 9 a.m. there was high mass at the acting
cathedral, and at 10 and 11 a.m. there was high mass in the other

the

mass,

churches.

After breakfast we Adsited the

city, which retains the character
by Gardner it appears almost deserted. The pavement was really bad good only for the chiropodist.
There
were a few neat two-storeyed houses, but the greater part was
ground-floor, made of scantling and whitewashed adobes, with
half-windows, and not a few rotulas or lattices.
Some of the
fountains were old and quaint, fronted bv carved and painted

given to

it

;

—

dolphins that contrast curiously witli the neat modern castings

and statues of the "Atlantic Cities" in the Brazil.
*

Seile

do Bispado de

Jliiia'?.

THE

J2S

We

HiOHLA>>'DS OF

THE BRAZIL.

[chap, xxxni.

upon the Bishop Monsignor Antonio Ferreira Vicoso
bungalow, with hat and arms over the
The venerable ecclesiastic, now aged eighty, was still in
door.
his eye was bright and
feature and pronunciation a Portuguese
intelligent, and his face calm and intellectual
he was dressed in
the pink-red robe, according to the order which prescribes black
called

at the Palace, a large old

:

;

to the priest, scarlet (typical of

shedding his own blood*) to the

He received us most kindly,
endured the ring-kissing with much patience, and led the way to
a library, mostly theological, and adorned with fancy medallions
Mgr. Gaume would
and portraits of classical philosophers.
cardinal,

and white

to the Pope.

have joyed to behold the caricatm^e of poor epicures who committed the one unpardonable sin of declaring that the gods do
not trouble themselves with mortal matters, and, therefore, that
it is

vain to hii'e for them priestly servants.
" Eeverendissimo " is highly spoken of, and has done

The

much

and other Provinces. He lectured on philosophy at Evora, and on theology, mathematics,
and languages at Angra dos Eeis where he had been a parish
He then became
priest
at Rio de Janeiro, and at the Cara9a.
successivel}'' Principal at the Semmaries of Angra, the Caraga,
and Campo Bello.f He Avas promoted in January 22, 1844, by
Gregory XVI., and was consecrated in the following May by the
Bishop of Rio, Chrysopolis, and Para. He took possession, b}'
proxy, on April 28, 1844, and made his public entrance in early
June. He has anointed, in the Cathedral of Marianna, two of his
Caraca pupils to the bishoprics of Para and Ceani, and he has
lately visited Diamantma to perform the same office for its
diocesan.
More than once he has emplo3'ed six to seven months,
for ecclesiastical education in this

—

—

even during rainy weather, in inspecting his see, preaching,
"NVe
confessing, and administering chrism.
the general prayer, " Deos conserve seus dias

A

short

may

safely join in

"
!

account of the Bishoj)'s predecessors

uninteresting. t

At the request of D. Joao

may

not be

V., Benedict

XIV.

dismembered the diocese of Marianna from that of Rio de Janeiro

* Tlic Cardinalician purple has of late
been solicited for the Archbishop of Bahia,
the Primate of the Brazil.
He will, if the
honour be gi-anted, be the first American
that ever sat in the Holy College.

A small place situated between Minas,
Paulo and Groyaz.
J The Almanack for 1865 is answerable
for any inaccuracies concerning the " Exms.
Bispos de Marianna."
+

S.

—
AT .MAKIANNA.

xxxiu.J

(ii.vr.

by the

bull,

.329

" C'aiulor lucis setenise, Dec.

The

1741.*

6,

first

D.C.L. of Coimbra,
friend and coadjutor of

diocesan Avas D. Frei Manoel da Cruz,

bishop

foiu'th

of

— — or

the famous
mart^-r"

jNIaranham,

infamous

—

P*-'

and
Gabriel Malagreda, the " devil's

" in Portug. pro fide

Sept. 15, 1745,

I).

occisus."

When

nominated,

F. Manoel travelled to Minas overland, in

those days a dangerous journey, and rains and sickness occupied

him, some

He

days.

sa}'

eleven months, others fourteen months and a few

now

finished the ]Matriz,

the Seminary, and he laid the

first

the Cathedral

;

he founded

stone of S. Francisco

m

1762.

Directed to oppose, with "prudence, paternal love, and charity,"
the disorders of his herd, he was

King continued
died Jan.

3,

to

much complained

of,

but the

He

repose in him the fullest confidence.

1764, aged seventy-four, and he lies in the middle

catacomb within the cathedi'al clioii'.
The second was D. Joaquim Borges de Figueii"6a," a secular
priest, who became Ai'chbishop of Bahia before he reached Mari-

He

was followed by D. Frei Bartholomew Manoel Mendes
he also did not
take personal possession, but he assisted in consecrating his
successor.
Then came three governors, one of whom, Ignacio
Correa de Sa, the Doctoral Canon of the Cathedral, indited some
" It is in 3'our hands," he desingular threatening pastorals.
"
clared,
to show that your sins are not the cause of my departure,
by hearing the word of God. If ye do so, then if the Lord be not
anna.

dos Reis, formerly resident bishop of Macao

pleased that we depart

*

*

*

He

will

;

send another to serve

him with zeal and charity."
The fourth was D. Frei Domingos da Incarna^ao Pontevel,

a

Friar-preacher, professor of philosophy and theology, and director of the

Thii-d Order of St. Dominic.

He

was confirmed

b}^

YL, and he took

charge Feb. 25, 1789. Dm-ing his day
happened the celebrated " Inconfidencia," in which the noblest

Pius

son of Marianna, Claudio jNIanuel da Costa, of Paulista family
(born 1729, died 1789), sacrificed his

life

for his native land.

His

portrait in the Episcopal Palace, Marianna, bears this distich
prffisul noster ? Nil est nisi pulvis in um&,
Cordibus est nostris vivis et ipse manes.

Quid

* PizaiTO says 17413.
He also remarks
that the second and the third bishop
enjoyed at Lisbon the emoluments of this
diocese.
This suggests tho_ modern pruc-

who have
escaped blame when they deserve more
of it than the "buccaneer bishops" so
tice of certain colonial cijiscopi,

severely

" banged "

of late years.

THE HIGHLAND.S OF THE BKAZiL.

330

[ciiAr.

xxxui.

He was succeeded b}' T>. Frei Cypriano de S. Jose, a friar
minor (Franciscan), of Arrabida, and a literarj'- man. During his
This Bishop died at
rule the Royal family landed in the Brazil.
Marianna, August 14, 1817, and on April 9, 1820, D. Frei Jose
da SS. Trindade, of the Reformed Minors of S. Francisco of
Bahia, was consecrated. The independence of the country having
been declared, he assisted in the coronation ceremonies of the
first Emperor, who, with the Empress D. Amelia, subsequently
became his guests. He died in his diocese, September 28, 1835,
and he Kes in the Cathedral, near the first bishop. The seventh,
D. Carlos Pereira Freii'e de Moura, did not live to take possession.
The eighth we have just met.
An ecclesiastic accompanied us from the Palace after the
episcopal blessing had been given, to the adjoining Seminary,
where we were duly introduced to the Principal, Rev. Joao
Baptista Carnaglioto, of Turin.

The

staif consists of a Vice-

About
and seven professors, with as man}^ priests.
The long vacation
forty of tlie 180 pupils are noAV resident.
The course of prepabegins in July, and ends Avith October 1.
rator}' studies lasts five years, after which those destined for the
chiu'ch are sent to the Cartica, and the others to the various
academies of the Empire, where doctors in law, mathematics, and
medicine are manufactured b}" the gross. AVhen first founded,
the Seminary w^as placed under the Jesuit, P'^ Jose Nogueu'a.
It was reorganised by the present Bishop, the rectors being now
diocesans of Cearji and Diamantina and for a few months the
director of the collegiate part was D. Pascual Paccini, Professor
of Natural History in the Museum of Palermo, sent on a scienDr. Jose Marcellino Roche Cabral,
tific mission to the Brazil.
ex-editor of the once famous " Dispertador"
the Awakener and
a well-known writer, who had exchanged political for private life,
was also a vice-director. The Most Reverend then divided the
pupils into a major and a minor class, and entrusted both to the
Princijjal

—

—

;

—

—

Charitable persons have bequeathed

Fathers of the Mission.

negroes and estates to the house, and

its

finances are

managed

by administrators under the Superior.
We walked through the establishment, which was remarkable
for cleanlmess and order
even the kitchen was neat. Au rcste,
there were the usual long double rows of small black iron bedsteads and red blankets, the travelling boxes ranged along the
;

.

AT MAKIAXXA.

KAP. xxxiiT.]

walls, the long" tables
toria,

clo^vll

331

long refectories, and the long scrip-

with endless desks, and the huge, antiquated maps which

Upon

are seen in all such places.

shown the

MDCCLX. — 1760

date,

the old doorway Ave were
a hoar antiquity in this

is

the youngest of empires.

we went

Lastl}',

to visit the Sisters of S. Vincent

In 1749, the good Bishop, who

is

de Paul.

Superior of the Order in the

and established them in the city. They
receives from the Government
six contos of reis per annmii, and the law compels it to lodge,
board, and instruct forty orphans, duly nominated by the authorities.
The reverend motlier, elderly and compact, active and
Brazil, collected alms,

now number

received us

bustling,

words, "

The house

fifteen.

cordially, and, with

AUons premierement

led us to the convent chapel.

—

the rather startling

visiter le maitre

We

de la maison,"

then inspected their school of

up to twenty, and even
annum, not including
washing and small extras. No signs of luxury, and few of comfort, appeared
on the other hand, the arrangements were excellent, and nothing could be cleaner.
Next we saw the second
These in process
class, and the orphanry, numbering sixty -four.
sixty-six boarders

The

upwards.

giiis

of every age

pupils pay 180 $000 per

;

of time will be married to suitable persons,

^PPly

we

officially for wives.

who

visited the hospital patients,* forty-two in

men and

four

six

women

;

and

all

number, including

— an unusual proportion —insane.

were employed in making flowers and
sale

are expected to

Lastly, passing through a good garden,

flocked up to kiss the

vdth great show of respect and

pilloAv-lace,

They

of course for

Mother Superior's hand

aflfection.

After buying a

fev,"

mementoes, we went our ways.

Many

Brazilians send their daughters to these places of in-

struction because thej^ can get no better

;

but they do not like the

old monastic system, roughly adapted to
fear to see their daughters buried

modern

days.

They

aUve "for the greater glory of

God, and of the Ladies of the Holy Heart."

They openly

ex-

claim against the system of espionage practised in these places,

and

have other objections which cannot with decency be
As a rule, even in Europe, and in England especially,

the}'

specified.

*
to

The
forty

enter

Tisuiil

number

in liospital

per annum.

when

past

hope.

is thirty
^^any, however,
In 1865-0 the

infirmary received forty ;-irk, of whom
seventeen improved, thirteen died, and
the rest were cnrcd.

THE HKiHLA^'DS UF THE

•s:i2

the teaching of religious houses

is

fifty

BKAZiL.

[chaf. xxxmi.

years behind the Avorkl.

"
After a course of six to eight years' study, the girl " comes out

in a peculiar state of ignorance,

and supplied

^Yith certain

remark-

and ascetic ideas,* such as dislike to society,
life of a religious, which in a 3'oung country
like the Brazil cannot be too strongly deprecated, and an engouemcnt for penance and mortification which everywhere should be
Of this house it is said that an orphan girl, one of the
obsolete.
able superstitions

aspirations to the

upon to sign her name could not write. The
way into an official paper, and opened the
For my part, I believe the place of these
eyes of the public.
excellent women to be in the hospital, or by the sick bedside,
where their heroism and devotion deserve the highest resj^ect.
Instruction is not their forte, and yet they vehemently desire it,
because thus they can best mould the minds of the rising
pupils,

when

called

assertion fovmd its

generation.
* I could name a house of education, a
"convent-school," not far from London,
where in the nineteenth century children
learn that on Christmas Eve all animals
that thunder is the
kneel down and jaray
the merest fetishism
voice of the Deity
and that opiates must not be given to a
dying person, whose "agony" is the last
temptation to voluptuousness, or the final
chance of penitence three specimens out
My experience is that
of three hundred

—

;

—

!

;

—

that is
in matters of pxire faith or belief
all
to say, taking statements on trust

—

nations are as nearly equal as their development of imagination, of the marvelAmongst the
lous, permits them to be.
most civilised peoples in Europe it is right

easy to point out tenets which, submitted
to the eye of reason, appear identical with
those held by the savages of the Bonny
River.

(

;

CHAPTER XXXIV.
TO PASSAGEM (THE PASSAGE OF MARIANNA) AND OURO PRETO.
Quand ploon per San

]\Iedar

Ploon quarante ghiours pus tard.

St.

Medard had been

does not expect the

rainy,

—

Old Proverh.)

and so was

St.

One

S within.

SS. Bibbiana,
Mamert, Pancrase, or Servais, to serve alike for both hemiweather-saints,

be

they

On the Saxon's fete we were visited by Mr. F. S.
Symons, who, despite his domestic troubles, hospitably insisted
upon our taking possession of his then empty house at Passagem.
AVe left Marianna that same morning, ascended the hill on which
St. Peter stands, and fell into the eastern slope upon a good
The
road, lately repaii'ed by the Provincial Government.
country has that monotonous beauty, primitive and savage, as
Atala or Iracema, of which our eyes are now wearjdng.
spheres.

Our admiration

of the inanimate is being fast exhausted

;

the

wildly beautiful, the magnificence of virgin forest, the uniform

grace of second growth, begins to pall upon us

grand mountain, picturesque
l^rairie.

The

ugliness, to

hill,

and even of

we want humanit}'
speak plain English, by way of
truth

is,

;

;

we

are tired of

softly

undulated

we want
relief.

a little

Anthroi^os

and his works are to the land he holds, what life is to the body
without them Nature lies a corpse or in a swoon.
It is not
only the " inconstancy of

man

"

that

made Castehiau,

in

all

this splendid scener}', look forward to the icy tempests of the

Andes and

to the

and by precipices
that green is the

shuddering cavised by gulfs and arid deserts,
fit

only for the condor.

I cannot but hold

most monotonous of colours, and that in a

warm, damp climate its effect is a peculiar depression. In the
desert of rock and clay there is a vitalit}' and a vivacity of brain
which we never experience in India or in Zanzibar.
Presently we passed a neat buikling, the Mine Hospital.

"-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

3M

[ruxv. xxxiv.

niiles, we turned to the left and entered
Casa Grande.
This bungalow formerl}a proprietor and shareholder in the Passageni dig-

After a couple of short
the

grounds of the

belonged to

From

gings.

afar

''

it

looks well, but a nearer inspection shows

A fine head of water pours
from the bluff in front, and beyond it is shown a gap, a kind
of breche de Roland, where, in 1699, the two Pauhsta exploring
parties, headed by Manoel Garcia, who discovered gold in a
branch of the Ribeirao do Campo, and Joao Lopez de Lima,
the founder of Marianna, unexpectedly met.
that

We

roughty put together.

is

it

spent three da3^s at the head-quarters of the " Anglo

Brazilian Gold Mining

Company (Limited)." Mr. S^anons rode
Anna as often as possible, and

over from the Morro de Santa

we had every reason

to be grateful for the j^roverbial hospitality

Coruu-Briton.

of the

Our

fii'st

visit

was

" D. Pedro

to the

Norte Del Rey," by the road now familiar to us, and up the
Valley of the Corrego da Canella, towards which the Morro de
Santa Anna and the Morro de Maquine both slope. The former
is no longer worked
the free gold in quartz and the auriferous
;

jjyrites

shafts

The

did not pay.

and

levels,

mountain

face of the

some four
iron

thick;

feet

mica

The ground, however,

rendering

but

We

it

is

is

a

bm-row of

dangerous to stray from the path.
covered with a layer of " canga

tlie

containing rock of the quartz

proceeded to the latter,
where the launders were flowing and the wheels were creaking merrily in the forest that gloomed high above us.
The
Buraco de Maquine is the centre of three well-known old
is

slate.

therefore

diggings
to its west is the Buraco do Tambor
eastward, the
Matador,* and on the west the Mato das Cobras. Around it is
a mass of mines
Bawden's, Cornelius' (new ground), Benicio's,
;

;

—

Honorio's, Branco's, and the Minas de Sociedade, a very old
digging.

The jMaquine

hollow, which lies in a spur of the

the north of the

Morro de Santa Anna,

is

Avhich falls into the Corrego da Canella.

the

*

same range

Company, and
attention.

A

;

in

now

it

belongs

to

the

due time -ivill receive
was driven into

cross-cut

The

hill to

gully shows in

six distinct deposits of Jacutinga, iron,

The Matador property has been worked

by the ancients

main

drained by a stream
mica,

the section called the Tambor
Jacutinga
was found, but it proved to be unauri;

ferous.

"

TO PASSAGEM AND UVRO TKETU.

CHAP, xxxiv.]

clay slate, {lecomposetl quartz

and gold

33o

the lode runs east to west,

;

the east,* and the underlay

is northerl3^
Between
the beds are layers of capa, or hard iron slate, dipping 5° to 6°.

the dip

is to

Number

exploration had
had been found " alive
with traces of gold, and number U\o (or the third from the top)
varying in size from six inches to ten feet, is that which,
after patient and persevering labour, has yielded such rich

begun

four gully

number

;

is

the highest part where

three, just

below

it,

returns.

We rode up the hill accompanied by Mr. McEogers, the head
mining captain, and saw the low ground to which the three deep
Mr. Thomas Treloar has taken due warning
adits will run.
of employment, Gongo Soco.
his
old
place
from
We were
joined at the mouth of the mine by Mr. Hosken, another
captain
it is
here the rule that one man must not enter.
;

Jacutingaf gold

is

free, and, unlike the pyritic,

precaution against exposure

;

in this matter

the diamond, and, despite

as

certainly find

We

means

ail

requires every

it is

carefulness,

as dangerous

the

negro

will

of picking and stealing.

entered No. 3 (from the top), or Hilcke's tram-level, the

principal of the six which have been acquii'ed by purchase or

concession.
The general direction was with the dip north
51° east, and four shoots or lines of gold have been found in

The

was literally walled with wood, cap pieces, and
legs, with lathing of whole or split candeia trunks, and sometunes
coarse planking to prevent the sides coming to.
The sets of
timbering were nowhere more than six feet apart. In the main
levels, or arteries, first-class wood is used
ordinary timber
suffices for the stopes, and when the lode has been taken out
it.

interior

;

the

w^alls are

captain

we

allowed to come together.

with the lode, side passages, and
level,

Under guidance

of the

visited the cross-cuts driven northerly to coimnunicate

mmor

but which are distinctly the

encountered, these are extended in

levels,

reverse.

its

which should be

When

lode is

course, and are used for

tramming out broken

ore.
Several levels have been driven and
abandoned, as the workings penetrated below them. The prin-

* The easterly dip of t!ie line of gold
One of the
averages from 20° to 20°.
lines has been worked on I'lO fathduis

from outcrop.

+ The Jacutinga is soft, and consists
mainl}^ of micaceous iron, friable quartz,
sand, and clay, in a containing rock of
slaty iron ore.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

3;jG

[vnxv. xxxiv.

cipal are at present " Hilcke's "

and " Alice's," intersecting the
128 fathoms. As a rule,
the mine was excepthe walking was eas}' and even pleasant
tionally dry, and no hanging wall took away from the sense of
lode, the former at 47, the latter at

;

security.

I noticed but a single blower

which emitted gas

we

;

tried to ignite

it,

—a

crack in the side

but could not, and in

one place only the lights burned dim and blue. This speaks
" Rises," or commuwell for the ventilation of the drivings.
nications from one level to another, are

the

ore broken in

stope,

and

made

for shooting

convenience

for

down

of breathing.

Air shafts are especially necessary in Jacutinga, the worst of
In some parts

minerals for heat, which becomes intolerable.

damp has extinguished

the unpure
the miners

;

but this

After leaving the souterrain

washed by women,

the lamps and driven away

is rare.

we saw some of the rich stuff
up in safes, and sent down

labelled, locked

to the lower stamps.

Lately (1867) a nugget has been found

containing 512 oitavas of pure gold, and measuring eighteen by

The common

vein yields ten oitavas per ton, and
worked per month. lUcli ore gives 800
twelve boxes,
oitavas (eight pounds, four ounces, Troy) per ton
or half a ton, have produced 1900 oitavas, and 700 jjounds have
This is magnigiven eleven Brazilian pounds weight of gold.
eight inches.

about 1800 tons are

;

ficent.

But

lines of gold in the fickle Jaciitinga, reach fissures,

and frequently disappear. AVe carried off, b}' way of mementos,
not to the detrismall but very beautiful specimens of nuggets

ment of the shareholders.
Bemounting our mules,

Ave passed a new building, the future
" changing barracks," where garments which may contain gold

will

be deposited.

After visiting the twelve head of upper stamps

crushed and straked, we descended
where the rich ore is worked. When
pulverised, it is placed in a tacho, or long copper vessel, and
washed once more. Finally, it is taken up to the Casa Grande,

where the rough Jacutinga

is

to the lower stamp-house,

and packed up

An

for travel.

extraordinary meeting of the proprietors of this Company,

held July 23, 1862, sanctioned the purchase of the Morro de

Santa Anna, and sent out Mr.
<lirected to

Thomas

Treloar.

The

latter

was

place

himself in communication with the agents,

&

Co., of Bio de Janeiro, and the works began

Messrs. Moore

CHAP. XXXIV.]

TO PASSAGEM AND OURO PKETO.

337

Santa Anna proved a failure, the quartz being poor
and uncertain.
The Superintendent had reported, " on the
Maquine side we have more territorial than muiing extent," but
the reverse was the case.
An experienced miner had undertaken
to raise from the despised hollow 2000 oitavas per day, and was
in 1863.*

offered a

condition,

handsome sum in case of success, with the annexed
" no gold, no remuneration."
There were many

reports about the riches here buried.

Tradition declares that

a Portuguese took out large quantities and went home, intending

work the diggings
said that the " old

on his return, which death prevented. It
men " found near the foot of the wooded
gap, sixtv-fom- oitavas of gold after a burst of water, which
drained off into the Corrego.
Thus guided, and directed, moreover, by his long experience, Mr. Treloar panned up the stream
and struck the lode.
Maquine was an afterthought but the
energy and perseverance which conquered it deserve every credit.
It now employs 350 hands, white and black, and it is one of the
only two successes which can be claimed by English mining in
to

is

;

the Brazil.

According to Mr. Treloar's reports the Morro de Santa Anna
was so valuable that in 1762 the Government honoured it with
an esjiecial law. By paj-ing to the Treasmy five per cent, of gold
extracted, any subject of Portugal could open a cross-cut to the
lode, and claim the sm'face ground for twenty -five palms, instead
of recei^ing• it by the " data," which was about ninety fathoms.
Thus the mountain became the property of himdreds of people.
Santa Amia became as populous as Marianna extensive diggings
were ignorantly driven ventilation was neglected hand labour
The yield
in a pilao, or mortar, was the only treatment known.
fell off, and presently the major part became the property of a
The Buraco de
few, from whom the Company bought it.
Maquine also had a number of owners till it fell into the hands
;

;

;

of a certain PatU-e Pii-es.

We

Passagem mining property, which lies on
Ouro Preto. The site is a narrow
valley, sm'romided by low rolling hills and tall heights ;
drained by the Marianna River, a moimtain-torrent here,
also visited the

the right of the high road to
river
it

is

* It

began with 230 workmen, viz.,
Em-opeans, 65 free Bi-azilians, 123
negroes, and 30 negresses.
In 1867 the

12

VOL.

I.

profits

£51,944

of

the

Company amounted

(at the average exchange),

Z

to

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

338

[chap, xxxiv.

This auri-

flowing north-east, under higli precipitous banks.

worked

ferous rock formation has been

Caldcleugh described

it

ganese, with octahedral

for nearly a century.

in 1826.

He

cr^'stals of

magnetic iron, in a feiTO-

found botryoidal man-

micaceous rock * the metalliferous veins, which varied from six
inches to three feet in thickness, were of schorty quartz, arseni;

and pyrites, ii'on and arsenical, the latter called
"
The lower strata were dark mica-slate,
miner
lead."
by the
which higher up changes -colour and blends with the simple
quartz rock. Under Baron von Eschwege the Company had a
capital of 20,000 crusados, and employed three overseers and
ate of cobalt,

thirt3^-eight

The

negroes

;

of

course

it

hardly paid

its

expenses.

was carried in bowls to a mill of nine head of
stamps, and the coarser powder was subsequently levigated
between two horizontal ii'on plates worked by water a more
Passages 100
scientific process, by-the-bye, than the present.
the
feet long had been chiselled and blasted into the mica-slate
Capt. Penna,
cog-pumps, however, could not unwater them.
the then Superintendent, proposed to drain the mine by a deep
this was left
adit, through which the stone could be hauled out
In 1840 Gardner tells
for the present Company to accomplish.
us that the Arraial de Passagem had been built by gold
wasliings which the people had abandoned for growing provisions
rich stuff

—

;

;

to suppl}^ the capital.

Since that time the propertj^ has belonged

men.
A company, whose brain was the Commendador Paula Santos, worked the " Fundao " ground, and
sank, but to little purpose, the Vieira and the Easgao adits.
The " Anglo-Brazilian Gold-Mining Company (Limited)"
began in January, 1865, with a capital of ^£100, 000, half paid up,
and the shares are now at three-eighths premium, a favourable
sign.
I have seen the Thiixl Report of March 31, 1866, and
find it very satisfactory, promising a brilliant future.
The works
are only beginning; everj'thing is on a small scale, and the
speculation does not pay a dividend. But it is a " likely " affair,
which may still do great things, and I have no hesitation in
to a score

of

considering

it

We

even now a half success.

put ourselves under the charge of Mr. Martin, head

* About Marianna the true Itacolumite
often passes into mica schist, and the
" phyllas satine" contains garnet. There

also a quantity of the curious flexible
stone en-oneously called Itacolumite.
is

TO PASSAGEM AND OURO PEETO.

CHAP. XXXIV.]

mining captain, who
extent of

first

showed us the plan.

mmeral ground.

The southernmost

swamp which

swells

to

There

is

a hirge

All the diggings are on the right

bank of the streamlet, which
rains.

.M.'iO

is

a

rises

the

lakelet

eighteen feet during the

Tundao, whose
in

the

surface

lowest part

is

a

of the

was once reported to be the richest, and is
approached by " Foster's Shaft." Follow the Mineralogico and
the Paredao grounds, each containing its mine, and to the northeast, or down stream, no limit has been assigned to the lode.
The main lode can be traced, and has been wrought for miles
riverine valle}^

;

it

in length.

Habited in correct "underground" costume, and each with
we entered the main or " Dawson's Shaft," or
rather inclined j)lane, leading to the Mina Grande, which has
three others for the extraction of stone
" Haymen's," Hanson's, and Foster's.
Northward are in succession the Mina do
Buraco Seco, the Mina do Barril, with the Barril adit, and the
Mma do Congo. A transverse section through the deep adit
shows a surface of humus and Jacutinga based on clay and ironstone.
The lode underlies the reddish and ferruginous micaslate
the footwall is talcose slate, sandstone, and "killas,"of
blue and ruddy rock, whose quartz, here soft, there hard,* is
at times interjected between the lodes.
The dijj of the vein is
south-east 17° 30', and often shallower (15°), and the lodes run
about north-east and south-west.
The head-wall of the main
lode (iron mica-slate) had been reached by old workings, some
of which are still drowned out
a large accumulation of mud,
crushed ground, and foreign matter, had to be cleared away.
Thus the system of opening out the mines has been hitherto
confined to sinking shafts on the footwall through the crushed
worldngs of the former proprietors in order to encounter
lantern and stick,

—

;

;

A

amount of the usual dead, unproductive
The lode and lode}^ stuff are said to
be thirty-five feet thick, namel)^, sixteen feet of main vein a
footwall of killas four feet "between the 'aii' and the 'oaf;"
The
and lastly, fifteen feet of canoa, short or rich body.
the

lode.

large

matter has been got out.

—

" pay
/"worth
/

;

dii-t

" gives per ton three to four oitavas of 23-carat gold,

£3

12s. per ounce.

We found the eightj'-three fathoms of tunnel steep and
* Locally called Congelada, that

is

to say, quartz, felspar,

dark, but

and other Lard rock.
z 2

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

340

[chap, xxxiv.

dry and comfortable it was well timbered with beams and candeia
trunks wherever the ceiling required propping. At length we
reached a vaidted cavern, thirty-five fathoms of perpendicular
;

—

was lit up with torches, and the miners all slaves,
by white overseers streamed with perspiration, and
merrily sang their wild song and chorus, keeping time with the
strokes of hammer and drill.
The heavy gloom, the fitful glare
of the lights, the want of au*, the peculiar suljDliurous odour,
and the savage chaunt, with the wall hanging like the stone of
Sisj'phus or the sword of Damocles, suggested a sort of material
Swedenborgian hell, and accordingly the negret Chico faltered
depth.

It

—

dii'ected

out

when asked

We

his opinion, " Parece

O

inferno

"
!

then went down to the " deep adit," foui-teen feet below

the canoa, or rich lode, and driven to the right banlc of the

The stone is trammed to the mouth, and hauled out
an inclined plane of wood, which runs \iy> the nearly
perpendicular ascent, and a whim conveys it to the stamp-houses.
rivulet.

thence

The

matrix

is

evidently

am'iferous

resembling that of Morro Velho
quartz,

and sometimes

picked stone

is

'*

;

arsenical

gold

black Caco "

is

is

much

pyrites,

rarely seen in the

The good

found.

Nineteen

in the proportion of sixty per cent.

Em'opeans, including the Superintendent,* compose the white
force the others may be 380
400, men and women. The recruit-

—

;

ing for the Paragua3'an war, so near the capital, has greatly interfered

with the supply of timber as well as hands.

work underground

at once

six palms, with extra

;

About

fifty

men

each has a task of four palms or

pay for overtime, and the bore raises half

a ton i^er diem, or a daily total of sixty to seventy tons.

stone raised varies from 1600 to

The

1800 tons per day, and the

from 3000 tons upwards.
were to grass we touched om' pipes and examined the
upper works. There were two hauling wliims with mule-races,
serving the four incluied planes which ran from the bottom of the
mine to the spalling floors. There were forty-two head of stamps,
of which thirty are new
they are divided into upper and lower,
and the stufi" is carried to them in platters on women's heads
The
after the tliii"d crushing the shme is allowed to run off.
The
arrastres and amalgamation have not yet been introduced.

produce

is

When Ave

;

;

* Mr. Furst, an officer in the employment ^of the Company,
typhus the body became, it was said, " yellow as a guinea."
;

had

lately

died

of

CHAP. XXXIV.]

TO PASSAGEM

stamped sand, when
gold

is

fine

AND OUEO

enough,

is

washed

The

stored in locked-iip troughs.

being replaced in the upper stamps,

PRETO.

is

341

and the

in the batea,

coarser

stuff,

before

levigated on sloping slabs

in the "wash-house."

Very comfortable and pleasant was that Casa Grande, with
piano and plenty of books, not to speak of Bass and sherry.

its

We

had taken leave, and the mules stood saddled at the door, when
Mr. Symons made up and asked me to read the burial service
over his mother-in-law. At 3 p.m. we collected near the little
ruined chapel that overlooks the narrow Valley of the Rio Vermelho.
After not hearing for many years the " order" of the Church of
England, I was struck by the coldness and deadness of the rite,
the absence of consolation to the living, and the want of comfort
to the dead, if " spiritists " speak the truth.
And what is there
chapter of
fifteenth
appropriate in the "Lesson taken out of the
the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians," with its arguits uninteUigible allusion to being " baptized

mentative tone and
for the

dead?"*

How

far better is the short " office"

the older western section of Christianity.

used in

The Cornishmen seemed

When the reading
resolved to add a little life to the ceremony.
was concluded they sang in a nasal tone a lengthy hjoim, which
gave them, I presume, some spmtual refreshment.
It was late in the afternoon when we set out for Ouro Preto,
The whole length is more or less inhabited.
distant a short league.
So we read in 1801 that it was populous with little settlements and
The line was then a
miners' huts built on heights near water.
fine calcada with an avenue of trees, which were, however,
beginning to fail. Now it has changed for the worse it runs
upon a Idnd of ledge. To the right is a confusion of red clay
on the left, deep and inhills, covered with scrubby vegetation
visible in its rock}' bed, flows the Ptio Vermelho or Marianna
;

;

* Paul, 1 Corinthians, xv. 29. Amongst
Marcionites (a.d. 150), who were
pai-tly Manicheans, the rite was literally
When a man died, one of the
performed.

the

in his coffin, and wiis asked by
whether he were willing to be
baptised, and, consenting, he was baptised.
The Cataphi-j-gians, who followed the wild

sect sat

another

Montanus (A.n. 170) also baptised their
dead; and vainly the orthodox contended
that the act was foolish and useless, since
if it were valid a person might be baptised
for a Jew or a Greek, and effect his con-

version witliout

tlie

will of the recipient,

Of modern days the practice has uudergone revival.
See the "Book of Doctrines and Covenants (of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints selected
By Joseph
from the Revelations of God.
Smith, President)" under the heads "Baptism for the Dead, acceptable only in the
Temple;" "Baptism for the Dead, the
Nature of." I have also alluded to the
rite in the " City of the Saints," chap. ix.
;

p.

471.

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

342

Biver.

The

black earth,

line is a gentle

and regular ascent of red sand and

now muddy, then

slate glitter like

[chap, xxxiv.

Scales of ferro-micaceous

dusty.

powdered sUver, and here they say occur scatters

The

of pale blue cyanite.

general du-ection

is

west, with a Httle

southing.*

We

found Passagem, where several of the English miners lodge,
with a certain air of neatness. A compatriot, who
from a labouring man had become a capitalist, here has a large
house. We had lived within a stone's throw of him during three
a

little village

When we met, he invited us to become his guests, but he
days.
had not energy enough to call. In three weeks, perhaps, he might
have succeeded. It is said that the first words learned by the
stranger in the Brazil are, " paciencia," " espere
and " amanhaa " Patience, wait a wee, to-morrow.

—

that

live too

long in the Tropics often

solitary habit of Hfe

Sr.

;

Domingo Martens,

for years

in fact, the

of

Whydah,

pouco,"

I

may add

better than then- teachers.

some foreigners learn the lesson

Men who

um

fall

difficulty is

left

into a nervous,

not to do

it.

valuable silver plate Ij^ng

on the beach, because he would not or could not order

a guard of his army of slaves to bring up the boxes. I know a
traveller who spent three years in Inner Africa, always wishing

and intending

My excellent

to leave

it,

but lackmg energy to give the word.

Hamerton, of Zanzibar, resolved
pack up next morning, till, not being able to make
such exertion, he died.
About half-way we sighted a tall white fane, the Igreja do Alto
friend, Lieut.-Col.

ever}^ night to

da Cruz, which in the gloaming looked like a Frankenstein, frightful
and gigantic, flat on its back, with its two legs en Vair. Another
mile showed on the right the Chafariz de

Agua

Ferrea, whose old

front and long inscription testified to the virtues of its chalybeate.

Near the entrance the road had been cut out of the solid rock
on the right, or northern side, was a quarry of white freestone
large enough to supply the Province, and tunnelled with longabandoned gold works, now used by the poor as pig-styes to the
;

left

a parapet defended wayfarers from falling into the great dark

gully which, running west to east, drains the two parallel lines,

the southern Serra de Itacolumi and
* Bni-meister's map makes Mariauna
due east of Ouro Preto, wlucli it is not.
In the last edition of Mr. A. Keith John-

its

opposite neighbour, the

ston (Stanford, Charing Cross) Marianna is
placed soutli-south-east of Ouro Pi'eto,
which is worse.

TO PASSAGEM AND OUIIO PRETO.

cuvp. xxxiv.]

Serra de Ouro Preto.

343

Both had been bored and excavated,
for veins and nests of auriferous

riddled and honey-combed
quartz.

The situation of Ouro Preto, whose " ill-omened and
name " is patheticaUj- noticed by Ml\ Walsh, struck me

ill- applied

at once as

We are accustomed to
and national character thoroughly developed in
the political and administrative centre called a metropolis, and
here we shall see that the old Villa Rica is not the less suggestive
than Washington of the magnificent distances. It is nothing but
unlike any capital that I had j&t seen.*
find race symbols

a great village, a kind of " Aldeota," a single street built after the

Minas along the highway, and near the water required
Thus it resembles a provincial town, and there
are many in Minas which equal it in population and exceed it in
fixshion of

for gold washing.

importance.

Hence,

also, life in these

country settlements

is

a

something
*

That

The want

*

*

Duller than the fat weed
on Lethe wharf.

rots itself iu ease

of level ground causes the white houses that cluster

on

the rocks, whose salient angles face the torrent, to creep up and

down
lie

main
Here they

the minor ridges which run perpendicularly from the

range, and to stand on steps cut out of the hill-sides.

scattered over the heights, there they disappear in the shades

below us.
city.

Yet

The prospect wants
it is

singular,

it

is

the grace and grandeur of a
full of " surprises," and it is, to a
all

and picturesque, thoroughly Mineii'O.
and our " following " found shelter at the house of the

certain extent, romantic

We

Commendador Paula

Santos, Hospitaller or Receiver-general of the

English at Ouro Preto, as was Jose Peixoto de Souza in the last
generation.
He was then at Rio de Janeiro, but his brother,

Dr. Jose Margal dos Santos, did the honours of the Golden City.
* Provincial capitals in the Brazil average 20,000 souls

Maceio for instance, much

less

;

others, as

some of them, Aracaju and
Pernambuco and Bahia, much moi'e.
;

—

CHAPTER XXXV.
VILLA RICA,

NOW OURO PRETO

Difficiles terrte, collesque maligni.

The

— Georgics.

following topographical description of the

"Annaes de Medicina"

lished in the
illustrious

The

cit}^

was pub-

1848, by one of the

of

" sons " of Oui'o Preto, Dr. Eugenio Celso Nogueira.

It is only fair to let

"

(West End).

him

describe his

home

:

Minas is situated on the Serra de Ouro Preto,
and W. long, (from the Sugarloaf of Rio de
Janeiro) 0° 16' 51". Four hills, offsets from the same chain, form
the base, and the irregularity of the site makes an exact descripcapital of

S. lat. 24° 24' &',

tion of the

others

cit}'

retii'e,

Of the liills, some advance,
them deep gorges. Those which

a difficult task.

leaving between

are too steep for building purposes are covered with a jioor vegetation,

and are irregular with

due to time or to man's

orifices

The houses

are built in unequal groups, rarely

same plane

hence the

toil.

occuppng the

ii-regularit}^, which extends even to the
Mostly they have an upper story, except in the
suburbs, where the ground floor is the rule. In the city almost
all can boast of glass windows and ceilings of bamboo-mat
in
;

street levels.

;

the outsku'ts the}' are low and mean, some wanting even floors."

"Of

the four hills, the most important

is

that of the Pra9a,

;

the Bairro of Ouro Preto,

the lowest, numbers 1579, and the

summit of Itacolumi 1960

raised 1620 toises* above sea level

toises.

The

city enjoys few clear

and serene days

the year, esi)ecially during the rains, the sky
* The toise,
feet

I

presume, is six French
or 6-3946 feet English.

= 76755 inches,

Thus 1620 toises would be = 10, 362 feet.
The Almanack gives 5245 (Lisbon) palms
= 3758 feet. Caldeleugh places the square
(bar. 26-393, and thei-m. 69° 30') 3969
feet above sea level.
Gerber makes the

is

;

throughout

covered, and the

Palace Couii; 1145 metres =3747 feet. My
instruments (No. 1 and best, B.P. 206°,
Temp. 65°, and No. 2, not so good, B.P.
206° 30', Temp. 62°) range between 3180

and 3373 feet; of these two I .should
prefer the latter, and give in round numbers
the height of Ouro Preto 3400 feet.

f

VILLA RICA,

(HAP. XXXV.]

seem

clouds

to

have

NOW OURO

made

PRETO.

345

home upon

theii'

mountain

the

tops."

This was written in 1843 since that time the climate has, they
improved. But the altitude, the accidents of ground, and the
peculiar position, make it subject to extremes of diurnal variation
and to great uncertainty. Now it has the sun of Italy, then the
fogs of England.
The climate is distinctly sub-tropical, and
northern races must be acclimatised before they can thrive in it.
Yet it is cold the equatorial fruits are poor the pine-apple
;

say,

;

;

hardly

rip»ens, whilst

apples and quinces flourish.

The temperamean

ture is hottest at 2 p.m., and coldest after midnight; the
variations are from 58° to 84° F. in the shade

but the extremes would, I believe,

tell

the latter

;

is

rare,

Evapora-

a different tale.

tion is excessive, the result of feeble atmospheric pressure,* whilst

the neighbourhood of the mountains exposes
cuiTents from the Atlantic

;

hence

in the Highlands of the Brazil.

it

to strong aerial

one of the dampest places

it is

It is difficult to prevent broad-

As

cloth from being mildewed except in air-tight cases.

the healthiness of the chmate opinions greatly

regards

Of two

differ.

Brazilian friends long resident here, one spoke highly in
declaring that

favoiu',

affirmed

it

had no endemic complaint

it

:

its

the other

to be dangerous, esj)eciaUy at the changes of season in

April and November, and at

all

times fecund in goitres and con-

siunption.

The plan attached

to

M. Gerber's book will,

enable us to find our way about the
rary home.

The Commendador's house

is

city,

despite its defects,

beginning at our tempo-

buried amongst the hills at the

lowest level of the one long street, and in a good central position.

To

the east is the well-built and parapetted stone bridge, the
" Ponte dos Contos," crossing the Corrego of the same name.
The rivulet winds from north to south till it joins the main di'ain,
wliich we hear running below us as if over a dam.
The Corrego

bed
and
*

is at this

Dr.

engineer

dry season a garden with tufty plots of strawberries

under which the

noble Jaboticabeiua myrtle,

a

Franklin da Silva Ma.ssena, the

who studied

engineei-ing at

Rome,

Preto

generally

laid

down

at

19° '9

(Cent.).

t The Planta Topogi-aphica do Ouro Preto

calculates the atmospheric pressure on the

human body

is

" range

to be 3 vC) arrobas (12,032 Ib.s.)
less than upon the seaboard of the Brazil.

on too small a scale; the streets are
not named, nor are the hill-lines properly

The annual mean

laid

temperatiu'e

of

Ouro

is

down.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

346

make night

palustres "

[chap. xxxv.

The tenement

vocal.

with

neat,

is

moulded windoAvs and corniced roof, and the balcony-

is

adorned

with busts and a noble vine.

Om-

walk

first

leading with

The

place

is

will

many

Una de Sao Jose, the thoroughfare
and bay, to the west and north-west.

be up the

a loop

Close to

classical.

oui-

quarters

the small three-

is

windowed house where lodged the unfortunate Alferes of Cavalry,*
Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, nick-named (por alcunha) " Tiradentes," or "Draw-teeth."

This

lent to our " Bell-the-Cat."

The

de dents and a maker of
are

at

still

Alagoa Doiu'ada, and

subtle lightness,"

was Hterally an arrachemSeveral of

the}' preserve

liis

relatives

Ihe
j^erfonned extraction " with

He

and he taught himself to make

his

etui,

artificial teeth.

movement, of
and heroic Province may reasonabh' be proud, as
to the Independence of the Brazil.

sight cai'ries us back to the days of a popular

which
it

patriot

artificial teeth.

coarsest possible contrivance.

The

not, as I supposed, an equiva-

is

this great

led directly

The democratic natm-e

Government
Minas

of the outbreak, wliich the

called the Conjuragao (Conspiracy of Minas), or Levante de

(Rising of Minas), and which
fidencia or Treason, t

Great Rebellion.

is

now known

poj^ularly as the Incon-

was evident, and as " sacred " as that of our

The

consj^irators,

when apprehended,

rnade,

it

but their designs spoke for themThey resolved to jDroclaim their independence and liberty,

is true, protestations of loyalty,

selves.

and

the}'^

proposed to abohsh the highly obnoxious "Fifths"

(Quintos), and other royal extortions

;

to cancel all

Crown

debts,

to throw open the forbidden

Diamantine lands, and to found a
university at Villa Rica and a capital at Sao Joao d'El-Rei.
They had devised a flag and arms, a triangle supposed to represent
the Hoi}' Trinity, whose myster}' was the chief devotion of Tiradentes
the motto was to be " Libertas quae sera tamen," | and
the symbol, an Indian breaking his fetters.
;

*

Bom

1757.

him ex-Ensign

Official

documents

call

of the paid cavali^ troops

of the Minas Captaincy.
The vrilgar suppose that he was " Ensign," or Lievitenant
of Artillery.
He was captured on May 10,
1789, and placed by orders of the Viceroy
in the Ilha das Cobras.
+ An opprobrious term, adopted as a
boast.
St. Hil. (I. i. 202) calls it la pre-

tendue conspiration, and declares "on ne
decouviit aucune preuve."
His account of
the movement is poorer than Southey's.

J Not a genius,

as

is

"Genio" and "Indio"

in

jjopularly

said,

MS. would be

The Yirgilian motto has
fared very badly. Soiithey gives it "Liber"
Senhor Norberte
tas pure sera tamen
"Libertas quse sero tamen."
Sr. A. D.
de Pascual (p. 60) writes "Libertas quae
The latter published in
sera tandem."
1868 (Rio de Janeiro, Tji^. do Imperial
Institute Artistico), a brochui-e entitled
"
As
Epysodio da Historia Patria.
Quattro derradcirasNoites dos Inconfidentes
easily confused.

—

Um

CHAP. XXXV.]

VILLA RICA,

NOW OURO

PRETO.

347

Evidently the intention of the " Inconfidents " in their
" embiTonal attempt" was to estabUsh a repubUc in Minas and
the adjoining captaincies.
This was in 1788, half a generation
after the

Boston Port

Bill, the

Starvation Plan, and the Tea-

chests led to the King's war, and brewed a storm which upset and

shattered the

old

colonial

system of the world.

The

great

Cromwell had taught the Anglo-Americans, and these in their
turn, aided by the Encyclopedists and the "philosophers," had
inoculated France with the subhmest ideas of liberty and indeHence the spirit of emancipation passed like an
pendence.
electric flash to the Brazil, where the "analogy of situation" was
The Empire, I may here say, founded
at once recognised.
herself, and did not owe her existence, as the superficial remark
At that time the Governor and
is, to Napoleon the First.
Captain-General of Minas Geraes was the Viscount of Barbacena,* and it must be owned that though he was an avaricious,
corrupt, and unprincipled man, his vigour and address contrasted
favourabl}^ with the feeble obstinacy and the failures of Burgoyne
and Cornwallis. The circular touching the revenue which he
addi-essed to the several Camaras quite settled the grievance upon
which the conspirators prepared to work. But his superior, the
Viceroy of the " State of the Brazil," who succeeded at Bio de
Janeiro D. Luiz de Vasconcellos e Souza, was the " stupid and
taciturn " D. Jose de Castro, Count of Resende, the " pest of
Portuguese nobility."

The Cabegas

or leaders of the patriotic rebellion were thirty-

two; such at least

is

There were not

less

whom

five

clergy (of

the number sent for trial to Rio de Janeiro.
than 1000 suspected, the flower of the land,
were found guilty) as well as laity, all friends

The fovir last
de Minas Geraes (1792).
nights began with Tuesday, April 17, 1792.
The author professes to quote from the
MS. of a Franciscan Packe of the Santo Antonio Convent, who was sent with ten others
on the night of the 18th and tho.se following to console the eleven condemned to
The Jesuits had introduced the
death.
custom of sending a minister of religion
to be present whenever a capital sentence
was read out, and on their expulsion the
Sr. Pa-soffice passed to the Franciscans.
cual informs the public by an Advertencia
that he had pui-posed originally to write a
di-ama
he has certainly in writing history
preserved the dramatic form.
;

* D. Luiz Antonio de Mendon<;a Furtado.
is thus given in MSS.
books
usually prefer Furtado de Mendonga.
The

The name

;

people believed that he had been sent out to
recover arrears of the gold quint, amounting to 22,400 lbs. of gold.
In July 11,
1788, he succeeded Luiz da Cunha de
Menezes.
The latter, who is satirised in
the Cartas Chilenas, had some inkling of
the republican tendencies then rife in Minas
Geraes but having many friends there, he
contented himself, when returning to Portugal, with reporting the affair in a general
way
hence dragoons and other troops
were scat out to the disaffected colony,
;

;

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

348

if

We may

not relations.*

[chap. xxxv.

imagine the horror-stricken state of

movement

failed.
The notables were the
proto-martjT " Tira-dentes," the arm of the conspiracy; Claudio

the people

when

the

Manoel da Costa, the brain the poet, Tliomaz Antonio Gonzaga,
of whom more presently; and the seven condemned to death.
These were, 1. Francisco de Paula Freh-e de Andrade, of the
Bobadella family. Lieutenant- Colonel of the Cavahy Corps
(Cavallaria Viva) of Ouro Preto, a man of high position and most
interesting character.
2. His brother-in-law, Jose Alves Maciel,
freemason, and first confidant of Tira-dentes, and who had travelled in the United States and in Europe t his confessor
describes him as a St. Paul persuading the others, and a St.
Augustme dii'ecting to God his true confessions. 3. Ignacio Jose
;

;

de Alvarenga Peixoto, ex-Ouvidor of Sahara and Colonel of the
4. The
Domingos de Abreu Vieu*a, | Lieutenant-Colonel of the
Auxiliaries of Minas Novas, who had seen his seventieth year.
Fii'st

Auxiliary Corps of the Campanlia do Rio Verde.

venerable

5 and 6. Jose de Resende Costa, father and son.
7. Dr. Claudio
Manoel da Costa, Crown Procurator and Commentator upon
Adam Smith, Commissioner of Customs, and Father of Political
Economy. 8. Lieutenant-Colonel (Auxiliary Cavalry) Francisco
Antonio de OHveu-a Lopes. 9. Luis Vas de Toledo (Piza).
10. Domingos Vidal de Barbosa, doctor or surgeon.
11. Salvador
Carvallio Grugel do Amaral; and lastly (12), Tira-dentes.
They
* The Almanack (1865, p. 51) gives
twenty-four as the number of the Inconfidentes
of the.se twenty-one were found
guilty.
M. Kibeyrolles has published the
trial in Portuguese and French.
Dr. Mello
Moraes (Brasil Historico, Rio de Janeiro,
Dec. 18, 1864, and succeeding papers) has
printed the whole Processo do Tiradentes.
The original documents were, it is said,
kept for many years sewTi up in a leather
bag amongst the archives of the Secretary
;

of State for

Home

Affairs.

But

I believe

be a mistake
the Visconde de
Barbacena carried oif to Europe all the

this

to

;

documents which compromised him many
remained even in the Secretariat of Ouro
Preto, and not a few have been inublished.
t There is, I am told, a despatch amongst
those written from Paris by Thomas Jetferson to Washington, reporting that he had
met at Passy two envoys fi-om the Brazilian
colony; of these, it is said, Jose Alves
Maciel was one.
According to General
J. I. De Abreu e Lima (Compendio da
;

Historia

do Brasil, chap.

5,

§

6)

MacicI

was

xjrobably the per.son mentioned by Jefferson wlien writing from Marseille on
May 4, 1787, to "John Jay ;" an extract
of it is given in the Revista Trimensal do

Instituto Historico (vol.

hagen

iii.

p. 209).

Vam-

270) mentions the fact of Jefferson meeting at Nismes an ardent young
Brazilian, Josg Joaquim da Maia, whose
father was a mason at Rio de Janeiro,
J. A. Maciel escaped better than his friends,
because he was the son of a Capitao Mor,
and was on good terms with the CaptainGeneral.
J I am happy here to be able to record
an instance of negro aifection and gi-atitude. A slave, of name unknown, belonging
to this officer, induced the authorities, by
force of petitioning, to gi-ant him permission of accompanying his master to jail and
to exile in Africa.
Sr. Pascual calls him a
" black diamond " and a " faithfid, noble,

and

(ii.

saintly slave.

VILLA RICA,

CHAP. XXXV.]

met,

saj's their

NOW OUEO

PRETO.

349

process, at Villa Rica, in the houses of Francisco

de Paula and of Dr. Claudio, and the sentence orders the
their

"infamous conventicles"

to be razed

and salted.*

j)lace of

They

it appears, determined to open the proceedings with the
watchword, " Hoje e o dia do baptizado ;" others say " Tal dia
he o baptizado " (To-day is the da}" of the baptized), (scil. repubhc).

had,

Lieutenant- Colonel Andi-ade was to keep orJ^r with

liis

troops,

Alvarenga, Ohveu'a, and Toledo, with their slaves and partizans,

were to excite the neighbouring towns wlii^st Tii*a-dentes was to
sally forth with vivas for hbert}', and to hasten for the Governor's
head to liis country house near Cachoeu'a, where that dignitary
amused liimself with farming.!
Finally, Portugal was to be
officially infonned that Minas Geraes had become an independent
;

repubhc.

According to Southey, who, not 'aaving heard the other part,
writes with an evident bias towards Portugal, the conspii'ators

" acted hke madmen."

Some of them seem to have done their
work in a half-hearted fashion, others to have been far too open
and confident, a few thought that saying was as good as doing,
and many looked upon the attempt as "hypothetic," not holding
the people ripe for Hberty.

on the other hand "

it

It was, in fact, a "

was a

rude tyrocinio

gi'eat enterprise,

;"

and everything

The poet Gonzaga+ spoke of Tirabecome Jove or Neptune as to be the
chief of such a rebeUion.
One man upon his trial called it a
comedy the Franciscan chronicler more aptly designated it a

must have

a beginning."

dentes as a poor

dcA^il, fit

to

;

Revenge and treachery were rife as in the ranks of
Fenianism. The arch-delator was Colonel (of Auxiharies) Joaquim
tragedy.

Silverio dos Reis Lairia Genses,

one of the conspirators who

reported the plot verbally§ to the Governor.
* The "razing" was not done, as it
was found more profitable to appropriate
the confiscated property. One door and the
little room occupied by Tira-dentes, were
pulled down and have since been destroyed.
t The conspirators declared that they
intended to aiTCst and deport, not to murder

him.
This seems probable but with such
a tcte-montee as Tira-dentes, it is hard to
avoid excess or to foresee what may happen.
In such circumstances men mostly act iipon
the instinct that the only way to get rid
;

of an

enemy

is

to tiike his

life.

The Vis-

conde de Barbacena was so unpopulai- that

when he

He owed

20,000

Ouro Preto he was obliged
A room in
the present palace was divided by him into
eighteen different comiDartments, and no
one knew where he sat or slept.
visited

to take peculiar precautions.

—

It is generally
+ LjTas, ii. 38, 7 9.
however, that Gonzaga applied
"
the words " pobre, sem respeito e louco

believed,

only to save his friend.
The confessor of
Santo Antonio describes him as "enthusiastic as a Quaker, and adventurous as a
Quixote."
§ Authorities ai-e not agi'eed whether it
was done verbally or in •WTiting.

f

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

350

cruzados to the Treasury, and
obtain a remission of his debt.

mission to the Viceroy bear the
Ignacio

"

)

lie

;

BRAZIL.

liojied

[chap. xxxv.

by his treachery to

The documents signed for transnames of the Mestre de Campo

Correa Pamplona and Lieutenant-Colonel Basilio de
This wretch demanded as the price of blood a

Britto Mallieu-o.

He was praised in the process as a
and CathoUc vassal, and was left to starve at Para, where
he was driven by public indignation.
pension and decorations.
loyal

The accused were

arrested on May 23, 1790, confined sepaand sent in a body to Rio de Janeiro. There they remained
imprisoned, curious to relate, m the very same building where
some years afterwards some of them took their seats as members
of the National Assembly. Their confinement lasted till sentence
was pronounced on April 18, 1792.
Dr. Claudio Manoel da
Costa, the "Amigo Glaucestre " of Gonzaga, was taxed by the
Governor with treason, when he replied, alluding to the absorption of Portugal by Spain, " Traitor was your grandfather, who
sold his country " He was removed from the prison to a vaulted
closet under the main staircase of the " Casa dos Contos."
The
permanent guard was changed, and he was murdered by the
soldiers.*
A report was spread that he hanged himself to a cupboard, after having opened a vein with the bucldes of his breeches
in order to write with his blood a distich on the wall, for he too
was a poet.f The tale that his corj)se was exposed on a taller
gallows than usual in the Camj)o de Sao Domingos is fictitious
it was at once buried in unconsecrated ground, the Garden of the
Quartel da Guarnicao. But the vicar Vidal of the Menezes family,
whose sister was grandmother to the present Senator Teixeira de
Souza, of Ouro Preto, disbelieving the report of suicide, exhumed
the body, and with the aid of two slaves, Agostinho and another,
rately,

!

consigned

it

to the thu-d

catacomb in the High Chapel of the

Matriz of Om-o Preto.
* Tia Monica, a sage femme, happened
by the house
just after the murder, and saw two of the
soldiers dragging out the body of D. Claudio,

to be passing professionally

a large-fi-amed man, who was easily recognised.
The Bobadella family tried in vain
to save him.
Ana•f He was devotedly attached to
creon and Malherbe (et Rose elle a vecu, etc.
Among the confiscated articles belonging to
Gonzaga were copies of these authors, bearing the name of Claudio Manuel. His poetry

well characterised in the Plutarco Brasii. 225^252.
The Holy Office disliked
the tone of his prose writings, and allowed
is

leiro,

few of them to be printed.
The distich
that showed the ruling passion strong in
death never came to light,
A soldier hapiiened to die at the time,
and according to some authorities the poet
was inten-ed in consecrated ground under
the supposition that he was the defunct
:J:

'
'

pra9a.

j

CHAP. XXXV.

VILLA EICA,

NOW OURO

PRETO.

351

Eleven of the conspirators, Gonzaga included, received sentence
Seven of the ringleaders were condemned to be hanged
at the Campo da Lampadosa, to be decapitated and quartered,
their goods were confiscated, and, after
Avith exposure of heads
the barbarous fashion of the time, their sons and grandsons were
declared infamous.
Four others, Salvador Corneiro do Amaral
Gurgel, Jose de Resende Costa,* father and son, and Dr. Domingos
Yidal de Barbosa, were sentenced to hanging on a gallows taller
than usual, lilve their friends, to beheading without exposure, but
The decree was read to
Avith loss of goods and attaint of issue.
them on the night of April 19, 1792. Five were exiled for hfe to
the Presidios or garrisons of Angola, and mulcted of half their
of death.

;

The

property, with threats of death in case of their return.

rest

were temporarily banished, and two false accusers were flogged.
None could complain of their fate. They knew the law most of
;

them were officials under government they had staked their all
upon the throw, and they had lost the game.
But it is said that the legal proofs were vile, and consequently
that the sentence was iniquitous.
In those days the Viceroy was
omnipotent, and the judges also, terrified by the example of
France, carried on the proceedings with Draconic severit3\
Curious to observe, the Jeffries of the trial was the Desem;

bargador Antonio Diniz da Cruz e S3dva, a poet still popular,
whose Pindaric odes and heroico-comic piece, "0 H3'Ssope," have
become classical, f But the Queen, D. Maria I., the first croA\aied
head fated to visit the New World, was merciful she commuted
to perpetual banishment all the capital sentences of the Philippine
Ordmances, except that of Tira-dentes and thus of eleven heads
onl}^ one fell.
Usually it is supposed that he was a mere tool of
deeper men, punished in terrorem. The tradition runs otherwise.
He was the ver}- t^-pe of Mineii'O blood, of S3'mpathetic presence,
and sanguine-biUous temperament. He had studied in the militar3' schools of France, t and had there matured the j)roject of a
Pan- America b3' addmg ]\Iinas to the List of RepubHcs headed by
:

;

* Proprietor of the Sitio da Varginha,
where one of the mai-tyr's arms was put
up, a property now belonging to the Dutra
family. His descendants in Africa claimed,
on the ground of illegal sentence, its resbut did not succeed.
The Hysf Ferdinand Denis, ch. xxvi.
SDpG has been compared with the Lutrin,
titution,

and the poet has been called the Pindar of
His assessors on this occasion
Portugal.
were Antonio Gomes Ribeiro, the prosecutor, and the chancellor, Sebastiao Xavier
de Vasconcellos.

J The tradition
left

the Brazil.

is

at fault

;

he

never

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

352

the United States.

He

[chap. xxxv.

died only forty-five years of age, energetic,

During the first year after his return
not on foot, as the tale is, in the
darling
project
from
Ouro Preto to Rio de Janeii'o.
interest of his
At this place he was arrested. Ujjon liis trial, although he left
a wife and a little daughter, he had denied nothing he accused
no man and finally he died, as political mart^^rs mostl}^ do, like
and very "phrenetic."

home he had ridden

five times,

;

;

a hero.

The

spot chosen for the execution of the Tooth-draw^er,

can hardly

call

whom

I

unfortunate, was then a wild space on the west of

Ptio de Janeu'o, the

Campo

dos Ciganos, a place where gipsies and

newl3'-imported negroes (negros novos) were buried. Six corps of
infantry and two " companies " of cavahy, besides auxiharies, a

armed force for a cit}-^ of 50,000 souls, surrounded the
which stood exactly on the spot where the funeral
coaches are now kept for liire. Crowds of people covered the
plain, and massed themselves uj)on the skirts of the Santo Antonio
hill.
The son of the Count de Pezende (D. Luiz de Castro
Benedicto), momited on a horse shod Avith silver, commanded the
Whilst a Te Deum for the benefit of Her Majesty was
troops.
chaunted at the Carmo, and lojnl speeches were being made, the
Brotherhood of the Santa Casa da Miseiicordia, as was then the
custom, collected alms to be sjsent on masses for the repose of the
victim's soul.
The sum amounted to a " dobra," Sr. Pascual
says five dobras, each 12$400 reis fortes, equal now to 100$000,
showing the sj-mpathies of the crowd. The heroic dentist, calm
and gi'ave, was led in the tunic of the condemned from the prison
(now the Chamber of Deputies) by the Rua da Cadea, the present
Rua da Assemblea, and the Rua do Piolho, accompanied by two
priests, and guarded by 100 bayonets.*
He continued his adoration of the Trinity and the Incarnation till he reached the scafibld.
There he presented his gold watch to the executioner. His last

large

scaffold,

words, after repeating with his director the Athanasian Creed,
were, " Cumpri a minha palavra, morro para a liberdade " (I

—

my word I die for hberty). The glorious confession
was drowned by a ruffle of drums and clang of trumpets. At 11
A.M. he was hanged by the neck till dead, decapitated and quartered
by a negro hangman and valets. His head and limbs Avere salted.
have kept

* According to Sr. Pascual,

tlie

Juiz de Fora rode before liim.

VILLA EICA,

CHAP. XXXV.]

The

former, of

•svhicli

KOW OUKO

PEETO.

353

poets have since sung as the " Cabeca do

and much decomposed, with an
Ouro Preto, and placed upon a tall post

IMartyr," was sent in a cask,
escort of dragoons to

which then stood at the north-eastern corner of the
Una Direita, fronting the main square. The windows were
decked, and all the citizens were compelled to attend and shout
"vivas" for the Queen. It is related that his brother, a priest,*
shrank from the spectacle, and was compelled by force to stand and
look and hurrah with the rest. His arms were sent to Parahyba and
Barbacena, his legs were nailed to wooden posts (postes altos) on
the Minas road, in the Sitio of the Varginha and the Freguezia
dc CeboUas,t "where the criminal had sowed the seed of revoluAs he was a
tion, and had committed his abominable practices."
lodger, the value of the house was granted, but not paid, to its
proprietor it was ordered to be razed and thrown into the river,
and the site to be ploughed and planted with salt, " that never
(poste alto)

;

again on that spot there might be building;" but interest pre-

A

Column

was set up,
and this remained till 1821, when the citizens, excited by the new
Constitution, assembled and abated the nuisance by pulling it
down. In future days there will be a Mausoleum on this spot.
served

it.

Padriio,! or Stone

At present Brazilians think

little

of Infiimy,

of these national glories

monument

mark

;

even

amongst hills.
Thus tragically and with blood ended the " comedy," in the
same year that witnessed the decapitation of the Bourbon " son of
St. Louis;" and hardly had a single generation passed away when
the Tree of Liberty and Independence, watered by the blood of
the Republican Tira-dentes, shot up and overshadowed the land.
Twenty-nine years after the savage scene above described the wild
plain of the execution became the Rocio now laiown as the Pra^a
da Constituicao, and in sight of the spot where the gibbet was

the hill of Ypii-anga has no

Man

* Tira-dentes

first

had tvo

In-others wlio

were

is on tlie road from Minas
Parahyba do Sid. It now belongs to the
Deputy Sr. Martinho de Campos.
4: The word is a corruption of Pcdrao, a

f This phxce

to

In the heroic days of Portularge stone.
guese discovery these columns were planted
by the adventurers, who thus took possession
of the soil for the
I.

Constitutional

Emperor

of the

of Ypiranga.

priests.

VOL.

it

******

planted rises the statue of the
Brazil, the

to

us that Da Garaa's annada was supplied
with them.
According to Sr. Pascual, wlio is, I
Ijelieve, in error, the head was placed in an
iron cage (gaiola dc ferro), and mounted
He also relates that the
upon a Padrao.
brotlier of Tira-dentes, at 2 a.m.. May 20,
1792, placed within the cage a stone with the
symbolical inscription, "30/, "Emvunah."

Grown, and Camoes teUs

A A

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE

354

The

BRAZIL.

[chap. xxxv.

Riia de S. Jose, be3'ond the widening where the proto-

martyr

has a good modern macadam

lived,

;

it

contrasts with

the rest of the city, where the cruel pebbles are like our cobble
stones

— one seems

to

be "walking upon eye-balls."

This main

BauTo de Ouro Preto, shows
of house, shop and store.
The walls rise as if
straight from the ground, and in some of them a

artery of the AYestern Quarter, the

the usual style

made

of cards,

lower coloured band two or three feet deep resembles an external

Upon

wainscot.

overlapping

mortar

;*

its

joists

upon which

is

placed convex,

from the wall support

a*

horizontal planldng

rest the eaves extended to defend the foundation

the underpart
the house

the roofs one line of tiles

concave neighbom-, and the edges are closed with

is

is

finished with boarding

and whitewashed, and

if

of a Janota or dandj^, the under edges of the tiles

There are no tubes of derivation, and

are painted vermilion.

spouts large as an average hose pleasantly play upon yovu- hat or

your umbrella.

Street hteratm'e hardly exists,

rare and quaint, and the shops

still

signboards are

preserve the homelj^

little

jambs by day and taken down at night.
The stores being ground-floor, tailors, shoe-makers, and artisans
work at the doorway, or at the door-hke windows which reach
chattmg with the
the ground, and employ half their time
passing friend. English shops are common, and there is, as
glass cases

hung up

to the

m

usual in these depot towns, a small retail trade in everything that

backwoodsman

the mule trooper or the

requires.

I

saw

little

the deca}" Avhich Mr. AValsh describes in 1829, and which
travellers declare that Villa

Rica had become Villa Pobre.

of

made
After

the right-angled parallelograms, so offensive to the warped eye of

which characterise the new settlements
Ouro Preto has as much misshapen cmwatm-e and
narrowness as can be desired. There will be every picturesque
somewhat a heavy price to
difficulty for water drainage and gas
pay for crookedness.
the

European

traveller,!

of the Brazil,

—

*

A

Borneo

Chinese
(

'

'

(style.
So the Kiaiis of
Life in the Forests of the Far

by Siicnser St. John,
Smith and Elder.
1862.
Vol.

London,
p. 263)
split their Ijamboos in two, arrange the
canes side by side with their concavities
upward to catch the rain then a row is
placed convex to cover the edges of the
others and prevent the water dripping
East,"

;

I.

It is an excellent hint
where bamboos aboimd.

througli.
vellers

to tra-

f I confess to admiring above all things
a perfectly straight street, with a vei-tical
swelling or depression, especially when there
is a sag that allows the eye to fall upon it.
Nor can it be presumed that a man is horn
with a taste for crooked streets and unparallelogramic squares.

—

—

"

VILLA RICA,

CHAP. XXXV.]

NOW OURO

PRETO.

355

Amongst the foreigners here established, we found an Englishman, Mr. Saul Spiers and his family. He dealt in jewellery and
such matters generally, and here we saw specunens of the Minas
topaz, of Avhich the older authors, beginning with John Mawe,
have

Here were three common

such careful descriptions.

left

varieties of this

stone so rich in flaws, the wine-coloured, the

and the almost white ; under the influence
of " Fashion," and of extensive falsification, they soon became

brilliant straw-3'elloAV,

a drug in the markets of Europe, and are noAv no longer dug or

indeed used except by watch makers.
wolves were i)rocurable, but in the

We

expensive.

also

A few

cities

skins of ounces and

they are rare and very

met Mr. David Morritzsohn,

once a shareholder in the land that

now

a

German,
Morro

contains the

Velho Mine he is now a delegate of the French Consulate at
Eio de Janeu'o. Further on is the best hotel, the Quatro Nacoes,
kept bj' a Frenchman.
From the main street a long leg to the left or south leads to
the hole in which is built N'' S^ do Pilar de Ouro Preto, the
]\Iatriz of this Quarter.
The material of the old and primitive
missionary pile is whitewashed stone and mud, with pilasters of
The main
grey-3'ellow sandstone and capitals painted chocolate.
entrance fronting westward is somevrhat bowed to the front,* and
;

adorned with two columns of the jNIinas-Ionic, banded in the
Glass appears
centre and resting upon an architectural nothing.
only in the facade, a calico-strip defends the rose-light, and the

The only praiseworthy

bell-towers are half-finished.

parts are

the old doors of solid wood, and these want washing and painting.

My

wife,

who entered

the Matriz, describes

it

as being egg-

round the upper part is a gallery openmg into the body
by four arches on each side, and one for the choir over the door.
The ceiling of antique wood-work is carved and gilt, painted and
frescoed
a curious box suggesting Punch and Judy, and hung
near the choir between Heaven and Earth, contains the organ.
There are two handsome pulpits, and four silver lamps dangle
shaped

;

;

before the six side altars
into angels
*

Here

the latter are of ancient taste, carved

;

and other grotesque figures.!

called

" forma oitavada.

No.

t On

the right are,
No. 1. N»s S"' dos Passes and

da.s

Sao Joao IJaptista and
No.

2.

S'"

Anna and

Virgin

com Mcnino
Joaquim.

Deus

;

Dorcs

3.

A
A

coat of arms well cut

large Crucifix; SSo Miguel;
Sao Francisco de Paula, and
Santa Boavcutura Saint Good
Luck, for whose mystery I liave
a respect verging upon adora-

—

;

S'* Rita.

Sao Jose
Sao

and

tion.

On

the left are,

A A

-Z

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZlL.

356

in stone

is

[chap. xxxV.

placed near the ceiling over the Sanctuary

Sanctuary, a mass of carved and

The

rails.

wood, has four tribunes
amongst its frescoes is a Last Supper on the ceiling, and tapers
burn in large silver candlesticks in presence of the B^ Sacrament.
gilt

The High Altar has

a throne for the Santissima, surmounted on
by a statue of the Patroness, N^ S* do Pilar,
over whose head a crown is held by two angels she is adequately supported b_y S. Pedro and S. Francisco de Borgia.
South of the Matriz, lined with tottering steep-roofed houses,
is the Campo do Manejo or parade ground, a kind of Praia or
river-beach at the junction of the Corrego de Ouro Preto into the
Funil stream from the south-west, and the latter has the honour
The two
of being named as the source of the great Rio Doce.
form the Ribeirao do Carmo, Bio Vermelho or Marianna Biver.
It rushes down a crack, a deep dark passage evidently draining
an old lake or pond, which now appears to be a mere widening
in the sandy bed.
This place was once enormously rich early
in the present century, 12,000 slaves worked there, and the
ordinary- occasions

;

;

diggings supported the population of 30,000

Gardner's
shilling a

the half-naked

time,

''faiscador"

souls.

could

Even in
make a

day by panning the sand and gravel, after removing
now he may " dive" for ever like a duck, but

the larger stones

;

he will find nothing.*

Beyond

the Manejo, a turn to the north leads to the N* S" do
Bosario de Ouro Preto f like the other churches, it is built upon
a platform that levels the sloping ground.
The body is divided
;

into a pair of ba^'s, the portico with stout piers

wooden

railing painted

red,

fountain and a stone cross.

No.

1.

N"

Sa da Concei^fto

the GuarAnjo de Guarda),
with S'" Isabel and the Menino
Deus, all together
and Sao
dian Angel

;

(

;

Sebastiao.

No.

2.

S'* Ursula,
N» S» da Terra
Queen of the glorious Eleven
;

Thousand
Silo Francisco de
Assis, and Sao Domingos.
Santo Antonio and Menino Deus
Sao Vicento de Ferreira, and
Sao Gon9alo.
* Faisca de Ouro, X'rimarily meaning a
spark, is applied to a flattened particle or
spangle of gold
it is oi)posed to Pisca de
Ouro, a grain of gold smaller than the
;

No.

3.

;

;

is

defended

b}^

a

and the space in front shows a
Further to the east, a hill-top is

canjica,

which again

is less

than the

peijito,

The washer is called faiscador,
or nugget.
and as his work is mostly imder water he
is said to niergulhar, or dive.
+ In the other quarter there is another
It was
S" do Rosario, called do Alto.
once very rich in plate, which has now disappeared.
The tale is that the negro golddiggers, who mostly aifect this invocation,
were allowed by their masters at the annual
October fete of their patroness to load their
wool with precious dust, and to wash it off
When 12,000 to
in the holy-water stoup.
14,000 men thus did, the "Golden Fleece"
must have been no myth.

N«

;

NOW OURO

VILLA RICA,

CHAP. XXXV.]

PRETO.

357

crowned with the Church of S. Jose
it has a single central
tower, a clock stationar}- at 4*37, a heap of sand at the entrance,
and one old man at work. Thence a long and steep paved ramp
leads to the S. Francisco de Paula, upon which a man and a hoy
the}' suggested Trafalgar Square
were putting a fresh front.
There is no general panorama of Ouro Preto huried between its
great parallel ranges, we must view it little by little, and here is
a fine prospect of the AVestern Quarter limited by the twotowered chapel, Sr. Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, in the place
;

—

—

*'

called

Now

As Cabecas."
going further north we cross a small stream by the

" Pontilliao do Xaviers," a single arch
of "freestone" up the ravine.

;

there is a good quarry

Eastward

lies

a yellow ochre

building, the barracks (Quartel) of the Police, once 600 strong,

now
new

Their place is being taken by a
which as yet numbers only 220. They are kno'wn by
blue coats and red edgings (vivos), wliicli for the National Guard
volunteering in Paraguay.

lev}',

Ouro Preto, being a

are white, or fancy colour.
little

troop of galley-slaves,

at the

who

pavement under a master-mason.

the Tuscan galeotto, but each

capital,

has

its

are seen in the streets working

man

They do not beg hke

requires a guard, and beyond

smoking and lomiging, they do very little throughout the Brazil.
Tlus penalty, re-invented in the days of Charles VII., and made
fosliionable by Louis le Grand, wants extensive modification.
To complete the circle round the Baii-ro de Ouro Preto, we
leave on the right a small single-towered temple, N''^ S'* das
Merces (de Ouro Preto), whose facade bears a gilt figm'e and the
inscription, "Ego Mater Pulchr^e DUectionis."
To the south
lies the cemetery of the brotherhood, abundant in weeds.
The
other tertiary orders of the

cajiital-

are

S. Francisco de Assis

do Carmo. We are now
behind the Palace in the upper town, and we descend to the lower
by a long stone ramp running to the west. The only remarkable
S.

Francisco de Paula, and N^

building here

is

S'^

the " Quartel da Guarnicao fixa," a misnomer,

as that garrison has gone to the war; the exterior is painted
yellow,

and inside

hospital in

its

is

a hollow square, worse than the Scutari

worst days.

Physically Ouro Preto

unworthy of the vast Province which
even in S. Paulo it would be onl}- a second-rate
it commands
town. The straggling and overgrown mining village numbers
;

is

;

•

THE HIGHLANDS OP THE BRAZIL.

358

[chap. xxxv.

6000 to 10,000 sovils,* in 1500 houses. During its palmy clays,
between 1723 to 1753, the census gave 2400 tenements, and
30,000 inhabitants, of whom two-thirds were slaves in 1800 it
had ah-eady fallen to 19,000 to 20,000. In 1865 the wliites Avere
six to one black, now they are seven to one, and everything
;

shows that the climate

Amongst

its

many

is

not suited for the African.

disadvantages we

may observe

cannot be used, and that even riding

is

that carriages

not safe in the city

is no ground for extension, the streets are too narrow for
and the country is unfit for the iron horse. Hence we
have the sights and sounds of a capital, the fair sex dressed in
French toilettes,

there
rails,

—

*'

Gents corps,

jolis,

and men in uniform,

pards tres richement."

and military, orderlies riding
and music ecclesiastic and militar}', wliilst perhaps listening to the band stands
some old negress habited in male cloak, with rusty cliimney pot
Officers

civil

about, bells, guard-momiting, bugle sounds,

hat proudly perched upon a dingy

kercliief.

Literature

can

hardly be said to flourish when the Ouro-Pretanos cannot kee^j

up a single bookseller's sliop.t The late Abbe and energetic
President, Councillor Joaquim Saldanha Marinho, has reformed
the educational establishments and created five " Externatos."
We have visited one at Sao Joao d'El Rei the others are at
Ouro Preto, Companha, Sahara, and Minas Novas. This has
been an incalculable benefit. The illumination is poor, worse
each lamp should be equal to six
even than that of Sao Paulo
not to three stearine candles, and man}' of the posts are lying on
The lands around it are unproductive, the goldthe ground.
veined mountains cannot be worked except by companies, and
In Ouro Preto I did not see a single
the city is not wealthy.
gold coin, and but for its minor industries it would resemble our
The city lives by
miserable English colony on the Gold Coast.
the sweat of other brows, by its profession as a capital, and by
;

;

*
the

I should prefer the

same

time there

number 8000.
is

a

At

consideralilo

and on special occasions
10,000.
the Provincial Assembly established a preparatory college, with chairs
for Latin, French, English, Philosophy,
floating population,
it

may reach
+ In IS-tO

Mathematics, and Pharmacy.
The BotaniGardens, which, under the General
Government, once spread 20,000 lbs. of
tea about the country, have been let for
200 $000 'pev annum to a private propricThe people are fond of music, but that
tor.
is everywhere tho case in the Brazil.
cal

VILLA RICA,

CHAP. XXXV.]

NOW OURO

PRETO.

359

money which the Government expends upon its employees,
making the Province comphiin of " Empregocracia." Being on
the thoroughfare between the Imj)erial metropolis and the
Diamantine District, it has a certam amount of small commerce,
the

hut this
a capital

agam
is

is

not

lilvely to last.

found the better, but

The sooner another
it

is

site for

not easy, I have already

said, to point out a central locality suitable for the purpose.

(

CHAPTER XXXVI.
OUEO PRETO CONTINUED
Tu formosa Marilia, ja fizeste
Com teus olhos ditosas as campinas
Do turvo ribeirao em que nasceste. —

On

(East Exn).

Gonxaga, Lyra xxis.)

the other and far side of the bridge, where the city looks like

House

a bit of old Abbeville, is the

now the

of Millions* (Casa dos Contos),

Thesoiu'o, or the (Imperial) Treasury by excellence. It was

was the Commendador's house, by one Joao Rodriguez de
Macedo, a very rich and important citizen, who kept open doors
and lived in splendour. Lilie many others, he ruined himself by
taking the contract of the "Disimos" or Tithes, which were
confii-med by Pontifical Brief to the King of Portugal as Grand
Master of the Order of Christ and his debts threw his property
He died almost mad and
into the tender hands of Government.
built, as

;

in penury.

It is a fine large substantial

jjile,

with bindings of

grey stone, heavy balconies, and a Mirador or belvedere on the
top.

Below on the

right is the CoUectoria, where the provincial

on the left is the Branch Establishment of the Bank of Brazil,! whose President is Dr. Mar9al,
and behind it is the Post Office. En passant we were shown the
export dues are collected

;

place of Dr. Claudio Manoel's death.

General or Imperial Treasury, with

In the upper story
all

its

complicated

first, second, and third,
and others half a dozen
" loafing about" not included.

inspector, chiefs of sections, writers

is

the

staff,

suj)er-

numerary
to do
the work of one
Thence we ascend the Piua dos Contos, a long straight ramp
which sets out to the south-east, passing on the left a fountain,
writers

—

(praticantes)

* A name given by the people in the
days when gold was lodged there.
+ " Caixa Filial do Banco do Brazil."
The capital was from the beginning and
still is 100:000$000 (say £10,000), in

;

notes of the Banco do Brazil.
I would as
unhappily the
willingly give other details
Treasurer promised punctually to supply
them to me, and as punctually neglected to
;

do

so.

—

§

OURO PRETO.

CHAP. XXXVI.]

361

one of the thirteen or fourteen in the
inscribed

It is curiously

city.

:

Is qua3 potcatiim cole

Securi ut

The water

is

sitis

a

am

gens pleno ore Seuatu
(sic) facit ille sitis.

On

better than the Latinit3\

looking building, the

Mesa das Rendas,

the right

lately

made

is

a gay-

a Provincial

Treasury, showing a wilderness of clerks who, pen behind ears
like the

Secretary bird, work hard at the statistics of street

communication.

The Rua

High

Direita or

very steep and

slipper}^,

Street, whicli turns sharp east, is

At the top

with narrow trottoirs.

Pra^a,* the square, there being no other.

is

the

It is a long paral-

lelogram sloping to the centre, whicli shows a

monument

to the

Martyrs of Independence, lately built by subscription. It somewhat unpleasantly resembles the pillory of ancient days,t and
Ave could not judge of base or capital, because both were en
papillotes.

It

wants a figm"e of Liberty, Poetry or the Indian,

"Brazil," or some. other pretty heathen, for although a pillar

supporting a statue
notliing is worse.

+

is

On

bad enough, a column that supports
the north

is

the Presidential Palace,

by the Brigadier of Ai-tillery, Jose Fernandes Pinto
Alpoim, mentioned in the " Uruguay ;" the scientific artillerist
was also architect of the Viceregal, now the Imperial Palace at
Bio de Janeii'o.
This Government House formerly accommodated the Gold Intendency in the lower part the front looks
like a " chateau-fort," a dwarf curtain connects two triflmg
bastions of the Vauban age, and its popguns used to overawe the
exceedingly tumultuous town.
The normal long stone ramp
leads up to the entrance, which bears the Imperial arms and a
gigantic " auri-verd banner."
Here we called at the reception
house between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., upon the senior Vice-President
and acting President, Dr. Elias Pinto Carvalho, a ''liberal
Historico," corresponding with our old Whig, born at Cruvello,
and formerly Juge de Droit at Sahara. We were received in a
fine large sala, with the inevitable sofa and double perpendicular
finished

;

* Or Pra§a Publica.
There are five
Largos, or "PLaces," in the English, not
the French, sense
mere widenings in the

—

streets.

counted.

Of

tlie

hitter

thirty-five

are

f The tradition is that the head of the
an error,
heroic dentist was here placed
J Dr. Muzzio informs me that the Indian
breaking his chains, who was to appear
iipon the flag, will take station here,
§ Palacio do Governo.

—

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

362

there was

[chap, xxxvi.

remark but the inordinate size
His Excellency
promised to forward my jom'ney, and really took the trouble to
write a long list of introductorj^ letters, a kindness which I
hai'dly expected, and for which I beg to express my sincere
gTatitude.
At tlie Palace I also met the Secretary to Government, Dr. H. 0. Muzzio, whose name has appeared in these
pages.
He is deeply read in poetry, and esj)ecially in the history
of the "Inconfidencia;" to him my readers owe the first detailed
and coiTect account of this great historical episode which has
ever appeared in England.
We then visited the " Pa9o de Assemblea Legislativa Provincial"
on the north-east of the square. The hall was large and in good
repair', with seats for the President and the two Secretaries,
liiie

of

of the

cliaii's

;

"huge

little

to

half-bushel-measui'e spittoons."

facing as usual the semi-circle of deputies' desks

accommodation was very

limited,

discussion is apt to be exciting.

the public

;

an advisable precaution where
South of the *'Pa9o" is a plain

Camara Mmiicipal. The southern side of the square
occupied by a fine solid old building, the prison * the Mineiros

house, the
is

;

—

Om'o Preto a Cadea e agua the best things
Preto are the water and the jail the}' boast of it as the
declare de

—

at

Ouro

finest in

perhaps it was, but now it cannot comj)are with the
;
newly established Houses of Correction.
On the ground is a
fountain with a long insciiption, and a double flight of stairs
the Empii'e

runs up to the guarded entrance, flanked by baiTed windows.

The first and second stories have Ionic pillars, with huge and
ponderous volutes, and around the top is a massive stone balustrade, with a statue of Justice and other virtues at each corner
nor has the lightning rod been neglected. The prisoners are 454

men and 12 women, a notable difference. We visited in the
upper story, the infirmary and the rooms for recruits disposed to
desert ; the di-ainage has lately been improved, but there was stiU
something to do in the way of cleanliness. The inmates showed
more industry than usual, and the head keeper, Sr. Joaquim
Pinto Eosa, wisely makes

He

all

his jail-bii'ds learn

ascended with us the winding

clock-tower, and from the leads

The shape

of the

Golden

staii'case of

some

handicraft.

the tall central

we enjoyed a curious prospect.
what part we see,

City, or rather of

* Tlie old Bastille was in the middle of

tlie .sqi;are

;

no vestiges of

it

now

remain.

OURO PRETO.

CHAP. XXXVI.]

is

363

that of a huge serpent, whose biggest girth is about the Pra^a,

which also represents the Court or West-end. The extremities
stretch two good miles, with raised convolutions, as snakes have
The site is the lower slope of the Serra de Sao
in old books.
this subrange is
Sebastiao, drained by the Funil in its break
part of the " Ouro Preto " line, extending two leagues from east to
:

The "

west."^'

streeting " of both upper

tangled, and the old thoroughfares,

show how valuable once
churches,!

mostly

rise

Avas

on

and lower town is verymere " wynds " and " chares,"

Some

building ground.

fifteen

detached and conspicuous points,

an appearance of elderly consequentialness.
The houses hanging about the picturesque ravine, as near to

and

thus gain

the old mine-lake as possible, have necessarily one side taller

Polychrome has the best

than the other.

varieties of coloui's, even the Imperial

one tenement

and

is

faced

effect

—gold

:

there are

and green

—

all

wliilst

with imitation brickwork, white, red,

yellovY\

is hilly and " goldy," turned up and rummaged by
Immediately south the Morro do Cruzeiro bears its
The gem of
cross, and here lies the highway to Pio de Janeiro.
the prospect lies a few steps to the south, where we see upon the

All the view

the miner.

horizon, rising above its mountain wall, Itacolumi, the " Stone

and Pappoose."!

A

tall

black monolith projects

its

By

against the sk}^ bending at an angle of 45°.

regular form
its

side is a

comparatively diminutive block, which the red men, pictm'esque

compared with a child standing near its
Perhaps the name alludes to some forgotten metamorphosis of Indian fable, and, perhaps again, this is the idea of some
Mineiro poet who had not forgotten his bird. The slopes culmiin illiterate language,

mother.

nating in this apex are here bald, there grass-clad
tell

the severity of the cold, and

if

;

tall

Ai'aucarias

a cloud exist in the sky

it is

sure to find out "Itacolumi."

Deep

mountain foot, and backed by shad}'
an iminteresting building, long, low, tiled and white-

in the hollow at the

trees, is

*

The substance

is micaceous quartzose
on micaceous slate, with clay
shale at intervals. Some travellers mention
a base of gneiss, but I did not see this.
f There is at present an excessive

slate, resting

economy

of

one-third

priests

at

Ouro Preto,

being allowed to

each

only
church.

About 1S66 Padre Franga, the Chaplain
the Police,

who

of

also attended the prison,

was suppressed.

They declare that

liis

salary of 1: 4:00$ 000 per annum was earned
by celebrating one mass per fortnight,
Caldcleugh mentions twelve churches.

Cow
J The name reminds us of the
and Calf" at Ben Rhydding," which has
no right to the "Ben." But how homely
is the English compared with the Indian
'

'

simile.

•

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

S64

washed

— veiT

like a comfortable

[chap, xxxvi.

Here

farm-house.

lived

and

name was D. Maria Joaquina

died "Marilia," whose profane

Dorothea de Seixas Brandao, the local Hero, Beatrice, Laura, or
Natercia, and who narrowly escaped being the Heloise of Minas.*
She was niece of Lieutenant-Colonel Joao Carlos Xavier da Silva
Ferrao, an aide-de-camp (adjudante d'ordens) to the Governor.
Books tell us that she was a " descendant from one of the
principal families in the land," f but tliis is denied by some at
Ouro Preto. Born in 1765, at sweet fifteen she was promised
by her uncle, a stamich Boyalist, to the poet Gonzaga, then aged
forty-foui", and there is a legend that her beauty hastened the
tragical denouement of the " Inconfidencia."
A certain Colonel

when

Montenegro, t

"jawab'd,"

the

as

Anglo Lidian

says,

taunted her with preferrmg to a "gentleman of fortune and
position," a poor " man Avho wrote books."
She, girl-like, lost
her temper, and retorted that she preferred brains to

Montenegro.

The

latter

denounced by

money and

letter the conspu'acj^ to the

Viscount of Barbacena, who turned pale, placed the paper upon

His cousin, Fr. Lourenco, the
the missive was
blown to the floor, and the friar, picking it up, saw all at a
glance.
He retired, sent for his friends in haste, told them
the treacher}^, and advised them to ^y. They, however, hurried on
the movement, and rushing armed into the streets, attemj)ted to
the table, and

left

the room.

hermit of the Cani^a, liapi)ened to be present

raise

the cry of Libert^'.

The

Governor,

;

who being

inti-

mate vnih many of the accused, had, according to his party,
determined to retire from his post, was thus compelled to take
action. §
This tale is not told in any of the voluminous writings
* Tlie

first two parts of Gonzaga's Pas(Amores and Saudades) are entitled
" Dirceu de Marilia," i.e., to Dirceu fi-om
Marilia, and are thus "attributed" to the
lady.
They are, however, the answers to,
and echoes of, the second three jjarts,
Marilia de Dirceu, " i. e. to Marilia from
Dirceu, and it is generally believed that
they are the work of the editor, an unworthy
mystification.
D. Maria probably never
wrote a line of verse, or perhaps ijrose, in
her life. "Marilia" is evidently Amaryllis,
and thus that well-known Brazilian Latinist,
Dr. Antonio de Castro Lopes, translates by

torals

'

'

,

Eusticus haud, Amaryllis,
geluque
Torridus,

alterius

bubulcus

:

qui

ego,

seiTem

uec

sole,

the

first

—

belief.

§ This certainly does not aj^pear in the
Secret Correspondence of the Viscount of
Barbacena with the Viceroy D. Luiz de
Vasconcellos and with the Court of Lisbon.
The Franciscan chronicler before alluded to,
cm-iously defends Barbacena by declaring

"he never was guilty of extortion,
and he governed Minas as Caligula ruled

that

armenta,

couplet of LjTa,

Eu, Marilia, nao sou algum vaqueiro,
Que viva de guardar alheio gado.
f '^^^ same is asserted Ly the Visconde
Moreover,
de Barbacena, May 23, 1789.
the arms of the family are well known.
J The reader will bear in mind that all
this is merely local tradition.
I record it
on account of its wide diffusion in popular

Rome."

OURO PRETO.

CR.w. XXXVI.]

%5

upon the " Inconfidencia," but I heard it eveiywhere in Minas,
even upon the banks of the Sao Francisco River.
Haplessly for the romance, Heloise was notably unfaithful to
Abelard, as Abelard was faithless to Heloise.* The lovers whom
" death could not part," and whose written protestations of constancy are legion, sepai'ated after the discovery of the rebellion

:

amongst the Inconfidentes there had been
some little talk of removing the stern aide-de-camp's head. They
were, however, allowed to meet and bid farewell for ever the
scene is said to have been painful. And both did worse things.
A certain Dr. Queiroga, Ouvidor of Ouro Preto, had the honour
of supplanting, but not with a legal tender, the poet Gonzaga.
By him I). INIaria Dii'ceu, as she was called, had three children
Dr. (M.D.) Anacleto Teixeira de Queiroga; D. Maria Joaquina
and D. Dorothea, all blue-eyed and light-haired. At Oiu-o Preto
she is now best knoAvn perhaps as the Mai do Doutor Queiroga.
In later 3'ears she lived retired, never left the house except for
the church, and died (1853), aged eighty.
Since that event the
family has quitted Ouro Preto, and none could say where it had
gone.
She never would pronounce her lover's name, especially
shunning the subject with strangers. On her death-bed she said
to her confessor, " He (elle) was taken from me when I was
seventeen."
Those who knew her well described her as short of
stature, and retaining in age finely formed features, and "a
this is easily explained

:

—

:

bocca risonha

e

breve "

—the

mouth

short smiling

— they agreed

that her ej^es were blue, and that her hair, which was white, had

Her lover, curious to
"hue of jetty night," and

been meio-louro, blonde or light chestnut.
say in four places, makes her locks the

in four others, " crisp threads of gold,"

favourite edition of the Lyras defends

and the author of the

him

as only friends can

defend.!
* That
of

is

begging her right to the

Heloise.

The

young

and

name

lamented

author, A. P. Lopes de Mendonga (Memorias de Litteratura Contemi)oran9a, p. 37.5),
is unjustly severe upon the hapless Marilia,
not because she was unfaithful, but because
she lived to the age of eighty-four (eighty).
" This man, this poet, tliis tender soul, this
passionate heart, this austere republican, "(0
this illustrious victim, this martjT to love
and native laml, lived through fifteen years
of exile in IMozambique, far

from the bride

to

whom

from

lier,

he had devoted

far
all

the sighs of his lyre, all the tears, all tho
torments of his misfortunes, whilst she
continued to live careless and indifferent,
She never thought of going to console him,
of going to live with him, of going to
women "
die with him
women
Moreover, he suspects that she used coldcream.
t Marilia de Dirceu, Lyras de Thomaz
Antonio Gonzaga, precedidos de uma noticia
biljliographica, e do Juizo Critico dos Auctores Estrangeiros c Nacionaes, e das LjTas
escriptas em resposta as suas, e accompaa!

!

!

—

-

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

366

From

we descended

the Praca

Eua do Ouvidor

the

xxxvl

[chap,

to the

south-east, and at a corner where four streets meet, frontmg the
Eua dos Paulistas, we remarked that the historic house of

Claudio Manuel still wants the commemorative tahlet. Perhaps
the Ouro Pretanos think with the Greek that 'Avbpwv iirKJiavSiv
AVell does it deserve to hear a quotation from
iraaa yr} Tacpos.
Plutarch,

'
'

dignissimus

Vita,

morte

quique

est,

sua

patriae

a small five-windowed corner building,

It is

salutem quferit.

At the entrance is a dwarf hall uproom with whitewashed walls, the studio

yellow, with green balconies.
stau's is a little square

;

of Vasconcellos,* and a second apartment, very similar, built round
with old-fashioned brick seats, opens upon a roofed terrace or broad

Here the Inconfidentes met to discuss then- poetry,
their projects, and their* political aspu-ations and from it there is
an uninterrupted vicAV to the home of D. Maria in the hollow.
verandah.

;

The house began

its life

of fame by

"Eevolution of the Tlu'ee Poets," as the

They

by the people.

its

connection with the

movement

is still called

are Gonzaga, Claudio Manuel, and Colonel

Ignacio Jose de Alvarenga
character, a philosopher

Peixoto,!

man

a

of

the

noblest

and a poet of " intemperate imagination,"

but perhaps the least high-seated in the Portuguese Parnassus of
Por J.
hadas de Document os Historicos.
Two yoIs., 8vo.
Norberto de Souza Silva.
Garnier, Talis, e Rio de Janeiro, 1862.
It is severely criticised by the scrupulous
and jiainstaking Dr. ]\rello iMoraes (Chorographia do Brazil, torn. iv. p. 612, of 1802),
who charges the editor with the additions
before alluded to, and many Musgi-avean
corrections and conjectural emendations.
As regards the important question of the
colour of Marilia's hair, Sr. Norberto
certainly not in favoiu- of his
that " loiiro " (blonde) rhjTnes well
with " ouro" and "tliesouro," qnoting the
Spanish sarcasm,

remarks,
IJoet,

i„ ,„„ „io;^„e.
Fuerza del consonante, a lo que obligas
1,
1
„,
sean blancas las horraigas.
haces,' que
'
_,

1
One
^

,

,

,

.

,'

,

1

•

Anglicc.

Fault of the rhyme's compelling might,
That turns the ant from black to white.

The

original ^IS.

said) Inirned

was not

by D. Maria

generaUy
a copy in MS.

(as is
;

was given by her family to Dr. Jose Vieira
Couto de Magalhaes, actual President of

Mate GroBso
* Mr. Walsh ii. 214.
t The pastoral Alceu of Claudio Manuel,
who called him cousin (prime). Bom at

Rio de Janeiro in 1748, he studied at
Coimbra, and served the Crou-n as a niagisTlience lie returned home
trate at Cintra.
inl776, and became Ouvidor in theComarca
He preferred,
of the Rio das Mortes.
however, retiring into the co\mtry and
writing verses, which were highly esteemed
by the amiable and liberal Viceroy, the
Marquess de Lavradio. With a wife and
four young children, he honouralily sacrificed domestic happiness at the call of his
On Ajiril 18,
country and his friends.
1792, he was sentenced to death, which on

May

2 was commuted to transportation for
with confiscation of goods and attaint
-He
of issiie to the second generation.
ii
aiTived at Ambaca, in Angola, a broken
life,

-ai

-i^ai'

,_,
hearted,

•.

•*

•

•

i
i
i
i
i
white-haired
man, white-haired
when aged only forty-four, and tliere he
An ode inscribed to
jied early in 1793.
D. Maria I., another to Tombal, and a
Mater Coimbra,
his
Alma
third in honour of
are admired as musical, facile in rhjtne,
ant^ abounding in tranquil beauty. ^ They
Coui;s de Litterature
^vill long be quoted
and Chrestomathics the Parnasso Brasi1^^™ ('^'°1- ^- 322—339) has given copious
extracts from his other compositions,
,

i

m
;

"

OURO PRETO,

CHAP. XXXVI.]

the present
in the

.

There were two others more or

daj'.

affaii",

SGI

concerned

less

namely, Manuel Ignacio de Silva Alvarenga,* and

Dommgos

Vidal de Barhoso, who was banished for life to
and who died there also in 1793. This celebrated
quintette may be called the heads of the Minas school.
In tliis house Gonzaga, the central figure of the poetic group,
used to pass his time embroidering weddmg-garments for D.
Maria and himself, f Lately some of his letters have been found,
ordering silk thread from various merchants. He was born at
Oporto in August, 1744, and was there baptised on September 2.
The Brazil claims him, as his father was a Brazilian official, and
he himself calls the colony liis home.

Dr.

West

Africa,

Por deixar os patrlos Lares

Nao me pesa

And he mentions

his

o sentimento.f

youth having been spent

at S. Salvador

da Baliia,
Pintam que os mares sulco da Bahia
Onde passei a flor da IMinlia idade,§

He studied law at Coimbra, he took magisterial office at Beja
and other places in Portugal, and finally he became Ouvidor of
Villa Rica
those days a more important person than the President in tliese. His approaching marriage delayed him for two
or three years, and he hngered even after he had been appointed
Desembargador, or one of the Judges of the Supreme Court at

—m

Bahia, a delay Avhich told
belief is that the

The

strongly against him.

home government, whose consent

general

to the union

was then necessary, hesitated

to give leave, because it did not
wish the poet's influence to be settled in Minas. A legend still
told within these walls, and I believe it is true, makes a muffled

on the night of ]May 17, 1789, warn him of the approachHe paid no regard to it on the 22nd he dined at

figure

ing storm.

home
day
*

all

He

:

in the

Rua

de Ouvidor

i|

were under arrest.

has been noticed in Chapter

Aqui

f

Eu

um

'

te borclava.

thee a kerchief I did enibroidcr.
Pai-tL, " Amorcs/;.LjTa 10.
The words
iilhulc tQ the i^oet's occupation, but the
author-editor places them in the mouth of

J

(f"i

\

••

ol.

"To

II.

p
Fart

q

3,

T

Lyra

my own

o

o,

paternal Lares,
Little of regret I feel."
leave

§ Vol.

li.

ii.

Part

2,

Lyra

7,

—

lengo

"For

^''^+

with his friends, and on the next

'

^

They (ih-cams) paint
Bahian seas,—

^''^''^'

^^^^^""^

oomet

^^^

luc ploughing

^^''^^

^^^^^

«

through
fl°^^

^''^t

Qn the left-hand side going do^-n. It
*^^ °^''^ residence of the Ouvidore.s, or
Chief Justices, and is now a police office.
y

"^'^^

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

368

[chap, xxxvl.

Gonzaga * was sent with the other accused to Eio de Janeiro.
His friends were phiced in the prison where the Chamber of
he was confined in a dungeon (masmorra)
Dei^iities noAV stands
in the Ilha das Cobras, and afterwards in the houses of the Third
Dming his 1095 daj's of
Order of Francisco da Penitencia.
solitude he relieved his mind by scrawlmg upon his dungeon
walls with desperate charcoal, candle or torch soot, and an
orange-stick.
He was subject to four several examinations,!
complained
bitterly of the virulent hatred of a private
he
and
Brito
now an unknown name who had sworn
enemy, Basilio de
:

—

to " follow

him

—

to the gates of death."

The

evidence against

him

and almost wholly presumptive at times
hopes were held out to him, and he thought that his marriage
might take place. He was reported to have undertaken a code
on the other hand he was affirmed
of laws for the new Republic
to have quarrelled with Tii'a-dentes, and the conspirators seem
His sentence, finally
to have looked upon him as an outsider.
issued on Ajnil 18, 1792, dwells upon the fact that he was a " man
of lights and talents," and he was evidently- lost by his high repuFor daring to be an eminent and intellectual mind he
tation.
was banished for life to the Pedras de Angoche (Encoge), in West
Africa after the execution of Tira-dentes, the penalty was commuted to ten years' transportation to the deadh"" chmate of
Mozambique, with pain of capital punishment in case of return.

was very

confiicting,

:

;

:

The

voice of the jieople, Avhose instincts are so true in these

him justice, and the favomite
the " Inconfidencia do Gonzaga."

matters, has done

movement

On May

is

now

name

of the

23, 1792, the third anniversar}^ of his confinement,

the unhappy poet

left for ever,

in the ship

N^ S* da Concei9ao
At the

Princeza de Portugal, the shores of his loved Brazil.
pestiferous

Mozambique

his

life

was miserable, he

practise law, and he lost the gift of poetry. +

or perhajis on the

bella,"

principle

mullier

mata," six months

mulatto

girl

after

He

tried vainly to
forgot " Marilia

" Saudades de mullier so

landing he married a rich

who had nursed him through

liis

fevers.

"

J).

Juliana de Souza Mascarenhs " was aged nineteen, nnd signed

her contract with a
* Spix and

+, and she was addicted

Martius have erroneously
of "S. Joao del Re}^"
t These Intcrrogatorios were dated Nov.
17, 1789
Feb. 3, 1790, and Aug. 1 and 4,

made him Ouvidor
;

to beating her

1791.

+ Whatever he VTOte there was .stami)ed
with nostalgia, and shared the decay of
his intelligence.

—

—
OUEO

cUAi'. xxxvi.]

He became

husband.

;

I'llETU.

369

almost insane, and died in 1807,* aged

Cathedal of Mozambique, and
he wrote his own epitaph in the Lyras
sixty-three

he

:

Avas buried in the

no sepulcliro

Por-ine-hrio

A

lioiirosa inscripc^'rio

:

— " Se teve delicto,
So

foi a paixSo,

Que a todos

faz ivo.s.""t

" The " Proscript of Africa " is described as a manner of
" Tonnny Moore," a short stout figure, with blond hair, bright

and penetrating blue

and a pleasing spirituel countenance
and courteous, Avon every heart. He
was a dandy, delighting in battiste shirts, laces, and embroidered
kerchiefs
he left some forty coats, some peach-coloured, others
parrot-green
a Avardrobe aaIucIi suggests " Goldy's " bloomeyes,

:

his address, at once frank

;

—

coloured preferences.
The portrait prefixed to the favourite
"
edition Avas
eliminated from the depths of his self-consciousness " by the

artist,

Sr. J.

precisely as he Avas not,
Avith

M. Mafra.

It

shows the poet

A-ery

thin, twenty-fom*, not forty-eight,

tall,

long dark HoAving h)cks, melanclioly regular features, and

irreproachable top-boots— in

Gonzaga
Latins he

still

is
Avill

jail.

the popular Brazilian poet, and amongst the

Some

take rank Avith IMetastasio.

are remarkably operatic

avIio

of his l^aics

does not remember the Italian of

—

Sao estes os sitios ?
Sao estes, mas en
mesmo nao sou.'

Almeida- Garrett laments his "fatal error" in not devoting himyet his pastorals, Hke his politics, are
self to national subjects
:

destined to a long

Cartas Chilenas

:

His hand may eA'idently be traced in the
some judges declare that the master's touch

life.
I

* Not in 1809, as MI\[. Wolf and A.
Lopes dc Mendonga any.
t They shall 'grave on my toml)
These words of fair dealing,—
" If the crime was his doom
'Twa.s hut error of feeling,

Inch

AA

makes

"Lyras,

P.

^^

all to eiT.

_
Aol. u. Tart 2, 1/.

X For instance, in the following lines
("EpistolaaCritillo,"p. 25),—
"

Xem

sempre as aguias de outnis aguias

nascem,

AOL.

I.

Nem

sempre de leoes leoes se gerilo
Quantas vezes as pombas e os cordeiros
Sao partos dos leoes, das aguias partos."
:

AnrjUci.
..

j^^^

.^l„..^j.^

g.^^lgg ^j.g fj-^^ eagles

jj„t ^^^.^^.^ Ufj^^ ^re
jj^^^

^f^g^^

1,.^^,^

jt

sprung,

by lions got
^1,^^^

ti,^

jo^gg and

j.^^y,^

Are

Ijorn of lions, are of eagles

boni."

alluded to this satire,
which will be read as long as there are
pompous governors and silly men in high
j

,,.^^.g

jth-eady

B B

—

THE HTGHLA^'DS OF THE BRAZIL.

370

not there, others opine that

is

—

•

especially

jin-idical studies,

remain in MSS.
In i)oetry Gonzaga

it

He

is.

has

[cuap. xxxvi.

left certain

on usury and education,

prose

Avliich

still

as he called himself, O bom
and naivete his erotics contain
not a trace of coarseness
they are sentimental, dashed -with a
tinge of melancholy, which of course deepens in the gloom of his
prison.
As is the case •sntli all the better Portuguese poets his
style is remarkably correct, and his language studiously simple,
withal sufficient.
Recognizing the fotal facility of rhj-me in his
mother tongue he binds himself, by stringent rules, in grave and
acute consonances, rejecting the former in his most laboured
jneces.
The Lyras, like the productions of the Minas school

Remarkable

Dirceu.

is

ahva^'s

for grace
:

generally, are hardly to be translated adequately in foreign verse.*

The

house was the councillor and

last great inhabitant of the

senator Bernardo Pereira de Yasconcellos,! whose father. Dr. Diogo
Pereira Ptibeiro de Yasconcellos, had bought
of the Brazil

was born

at

it

Ouro Preto, and died

de Janeiro, leaving a history, which

is

when
"Adams "

very cheaply'

The " Franklin

the heirs-at-law lost their papers.

that of his

" or

paralytic at

Rio

young country's

Being unmarried, he bequeathed the tenement to his
D. Dioga, of whom a terrible tale is told she was afterwards married to a Frenchman, still living. Thence it passed into
the hands of the present owner, D. Jeronymo Maxiano Nogueira
libert3\
sister,

places.

:

It

has

all

the mystery, and

much

Claudio Manuel
and Ignacio Jose de Alvarenga Peixoto are
also .suspected of having as,sisted in vTiting
the Cartas (Introduction to Cartas Chilenas, by Luiz Francisco da Veiza.
Laemmert, Rio de Janeiro, 1863).
Varnhagen
(Epicos Erasileiros, p. 401) suggests that
the author may have been Domingos Barboza Caldass who vas banished to the Nova
Colonia
It IS the custom to depreciate
these lettei-s
but no one can assert of the
.1
author
of the genius, of Junius.

tliem an Italian, Spanisli, and German
dress {M. Ferdinand Denis, "Resume de
THistoire Litteraire du Bresil," cha]). 5,
p. 568, and Ferdinand Wolf, Le Bresil
Litteraire, chap. 7, p. 66).
Of the three
jnincipal Brazilian poets not one has yet

reached a countiy which reads thousands
< <

mankind were few,
.
i
.1
Anu none XT,
that rouUl make them good or
,

1

.

_

,,

1

1

1

"

Muzzio, who I have said is a hard
student of poetry, believes that the Cartas
were written by the Minas school, and that
they show the hand of Gonzaga.
MM. de Montglave and Chalas ha\c
wisely preferred prose.
M. Ruscalla, D.
Eni-ir|\ie Ycdra, and JNIr. Iffland, have given
Dr.

like these,

p^^^

.^j

—

t
I

lessons he taught

^j^^ j^

^^.out working
^^^ j,^^^^ ^^^^

;
'

" The

rhymes

of

^

j^^^

j^^^, ^.^^.^^^

men and

^^

^,^^.
'

the railway
^ ^^^^ the great Broad
;

,.„
uauge,
"
-x
-u
i
i
will increase our trade.
hope it
•

i

tt„
t JHe

'

^i i,„
t
i
i
-ii
t
must not
be confounded
with
Jose
m
n
-r-Teixeira da -o
Fonseca -i^
V asconcellos,
First
President of Minas, and cieated Visconde
de Caethg the latter was one of those who,
on Jan. 9, 1822, elicited from D. Pedro I"""
the exclamation famed in Brazilian history
" the I remain.' " B. P.
as
Fico "
de Vasconcellos and his sister were popularly known as Jupiter and Juno.
i

•

•

,

j.

i

j.

;

"0

—

'

OURO PHETO.

XXXVI.]

LiiAi'.

On

Peneclo.

the right

is

371

the Casa do Mercado, with

tethered in front of the Large verandah, and yellow walls.

mules

Oppo-

stood the Pillory, which, some thirty years ago, was pulled

site it

down by some young men by way
square is the Church of

of spree.

little

S.

To

the south of the

The

Francisco de Assis.

handsome, but the projecting facade shows two Ionic
Over the entrance
pillars ungracefull}' converted into pilasters.
are steatite carvings by the indefatigable ''Aleijado," showdng a
outside

is

vision of the Patron,

and above

is

The

a sepulchran cross.

yellow doors are of solid wood, cut into the usual highly-relieved

In the interior are the normal six side-altars, a profusion
of i^ictures let into the whitewashed wall
a fanciful choir
balcony; a large ceiling fresco of Santa Maria surrounded by
angels, and the Trinity on life-size figures of painted wood. The
bosses.

;

pulpits at the entrance of the sacristy are of soapstone, well cut,

and recalling to mind the far-famed " Prentice's bracket."
Further down to the south-east is the N'"* S'"^ das Merces dos
Perdoes, so called to distinguish it from the other Church of
Mercies

To

:

it is

a single-towered buildmg,

N^

still

unfinished outside.

da Conceicao, the Matriz of the
eastern parish, called *' de Antonio Dias," from the famed old
Taubatiense, who settled here in 1699, and of whom all but the
the north-east

is

S"*

name is forgotten. It was once the richest church in the place,
now it is a long whitewashed building, gilt, but mean and tawxlry.
Here on Feb. 11, 1853, Avere deposited the mortal remams of
" Maiilia formosa " Ilosa Mundi, non Kosa Munda, whose story
*'

—

I have

been compelled to

south-east

is

N^

strip bare of all its

romance.

To

the

S" das Dores, and far to the east rises the Alto

da Cruz, before mentioned.
Returning to the Pra9a Publica

AVe visit, on its west, the largest
church in the "Imperial City of Ouro Preto," N-' S"^ do Carmo.
Based upon a high and solid platform, it is external]}' a liugc

bay facade, decorated as to the entrance Avitli
^tuck on to the gre}' -yellow
sandstone.
The two belfries are of the round-square order,
It has glass AvindoAvs,
Avith pilasters Avhere corners should be.
here a sign of opulence the inside is remarlvable only for gaudy

barn,

a

Avith

cherubs and

floAvers in blue steatite,

:

^'

tlic

I

am

tolil

Lately,

when

it

catxiconil) on
a kind of family vault.
was opened, a skull was

in the third

Epistle side,

sjhow

ii

iVi

cviilciitly

tliati
of D. Maria
))ut it liad
not been worn hy an octogenarian;
;

B B 2

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

3/2

hangings of crimson and gold

[chap, xxxvl.

and the choir is supported by two
and a pair of pilasters shaped like gigantic balustrades,
a kind of " barrigudo " style, which deserves to be called the
Flunkey-calf Order. The little catacombs of the Brotherhood are
on the south, and detached. The Capital of the Gold and Diamond
Province has not yet a public cemetery, and her sons must still be
buried in their churches. This is somewhat too primitive for 1867.
In the street, to the north of the Carmo, is the theatre, known
it claims to be the oldest in the Empu-e.
by its yellow wash
The house belonged to a certain Coronel Joiio de Sousa Lisboa,
also a victim of the royal tithes: he was declared bankrupt, yet
It has
it is said that the property, when sold, left no deficit.
lately been repaired at the expense of the Province, and it is
usually occupied by amateurs, Avho perform always respectably,
sometimes remarkably' well. The very civil Impresario, a Portuguese, led us round the house, whilst his company Avere rehears;

ci^lunnis

:

The

ing.

interior

is

laid

out in the democratic style of the

United States, here generally adoi)ted all the circles are open,
and a single central box, the President's, fronts the stage. I much
jjrefer this disposal to the European exclusiveness of pens and
;

pews

;

the prospect

is

more

pleasing,

and there

is

better ventila-

moreover, ciA^ilisation here
always a grand desideratum
does not demand the " dress-circle " to be kept " select," nor

tion,

;

does your coat determine whether you are god or swell.

To

the far south of the theatre

Forca, or Gallows Hill.*
say,

often contos (i'lOOO)

which proved the veriest

It
;

for

is

S^'*

Morro da

was levelled at an exi)ense, they
an intended Industrial Exhibition,

failure.

The

be visited for the sake of the view.
de

the old Tyburn, the

projecting

Thence we

mound

fall

should

into the

Pua

Quiteria, execrating its slope and its abominable i)avement,

and finally the Pua dos Contos lands us where we set out.
During our short stay at Guro Preto, a glimpse ai society left
many pleasant impressions, and we could hardly understand
those foreigners who complain that it is "not the style of tiling
We spent a musical evening of
to which they are accustomed."
many "modinhas," with the agreeable family of the ex-Secretary to
Government, Jose liodrigues Duarte, whom I afterwards met on
the Pdo dos Vellias I also made the acquaintance of D. Antonio
de Assis Martins, of the Government Secretariat, and part editor
;

* Tlie pillory wa.s for whipping, exposing

liuil s,

and minor

punislinicnt.s.

1

;

OrPvO PRETO.

CH.VP. XXXVI.]

of the

Almanak de Minas,

873

Although a Conservative he has been
and indeed such works deserve

assisted by the Liberal authorities,

not only local but general attention.

They here represent the

issues of those historical societies, ever increasing in the States
of the

North American Union, and

tliey

prove to the Old World

that the young, whilst looking to the Future, has not forgotten

In times to come the historian will derive from them

the Past.

invaluable assistance.

Party feeling runs high at Ouro Preto, as it did amongst us
when unbreeched boys were asked " Are you for Pitt or Fox?"
And here a word upon this most important subject in the Brazil.
Europeans and foreigners, who, hastening to make fortunes, hate
every excitement which can interfere with the money market, are
very severe upon the "arid and acrid politic" of the land.* They

—

never think that the excitement of partisanship

which

all

juvenile societies

"

hot youth of the individual.

consequence," has to provide for
civil

order,

and

to

secure

is

a phase through

and governments must

life

wars, and other calamities

Un
its

jiass, like

peuple nouveau,

i)ositif

the

par

physical wants, to establish

and property

must occur

:

:

it

will indulge in

the breathing time

is

and philcjsophy, the highest aims
of its later life, but in religious functions, and in adjusting its
political questions.
And indeed these are the two noblest exercises of youthful human thought, thus embracing all interests
between heaven and earth Um die Erde mit dem Himmel zu
verbinden. Nor should it be otherwise
the most wholesome
sign in a 3'oung people is a determination to enter into "the
affairs of the nation," affairs which older communities, finding
the machinery too complex for the general comprehension, are
Of course this
fond of abandoning to professional thinkers.
laudable curiosity will often degenerate into violent and personal
party feeling, but none will condemn the useful because it is open
necessarily spent not in science

—

:

to abuse.
I find in the Brazil

another symptom of strong and healthy

Men wage

irreconcilable war with the present
"
Rest and be thankful" state. Thev
thev have no idea of the

national vitality.

* Tlie

operation, parentally
i)leasant
"telling you of your faults," is
nowhere endured with a better grace than
There is nothing that a
in the Brazil.
called

stranger may not assail, i^i'ovided he show
a friendly spirit, not a mere desire to
Manie.

—
374

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

balance " Whatever

is, is

good

"

[chap, xxxvi.

by the equation " Whatever

is

is bad; " yet they are neither optimists nor pessimists. The3'have
as httle idea of " finality " as have New Yorkers.
They will

move and remove things quiet, and they
alone.
They are not yet, happily

will

Men of long enduring hopes,
And careless what the hour may

Were

infanticide

rare as in Ireland

They

disgracefully

not leave well or

bring.

prevalent amongst

—they would find some

ill

means

them

—

it

of checking

is
it.

are determined to educate their children, unlike the lands

where tlie political phj'sicians allow the patient to perish whilst
they wrangle over how to save him what physic is to be or is not
to be given.
They will emancipate their women* and convert
them into "persons." They provide against pauperism, and they
study to bring the masses up to the high standard of Prussia and
Belgium. They would assimilate their army to that of France,
not preserve a "sham army," or an "army of deserters."
They would model their navy ujion that of the United States,
not " Monitors," and so forth.
There is everything to hope from a race with prepossessions
for progress towards such a high ideal.
Of late years in
England it has been the fashion of the many non-thmkers to be
facetious about " ideas ;" t and yet I would ask what word best
describes the suppression of the export slave-trade and its
expression, the Sentimental or Cofiin Squadron ?
What but an
idea is it to send thousands of missionaries bearing the " bread
of hfe " to the heathen of Asia, Africa, America, and Australasia,

—

—

kingdom starve at home ? On the
same principle some acute observer discovered that Napoleon
Bonaparte always spoke of glory
Arthur Wesley invariably
used the word duty. No truer measure of difi'erence in mental
stature between the Exile of St. Helena and the owner of
whilst the children of the

:

* At a time wlien common sense
demanding tlie pohtical emancipation

is

of

women

in England, it is curious to read an
old book, the "Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb

Khan" (1799-1803; Longmans, 181 4), showing the superior liberty of the sex amongst
Moslem i-aces. He admirably accounts for
the Vulgar prevalent idea that the Asiatic
wife is a slave, and proves that she has
over her European sister innnense advan-

tages in the management of children, property, and servants, and in real freedom,

despite apparent seclusion, which in modest
women is always voluntary.
f Of course this does not apply to those
wlio do tliink.
"Rebellions are never
really

come
J.

S.

unconquerable until they have besays Mr.

rebellious for an idea,"
Mill vvdth profound tnith.

cii.vi'.

OUPvO PRETO.

xxxvi.]

Apsley House can
enthroned,

if

bo

well

not deified

;

it

iniiigined.

'

Duty was

^^as real, solid,

(which mostly means routineer)

'

;

whilst

at

S75

once

English
was romantic,

practical,

glory

The effect was to exaggerate the
which Bacon* and Locke carried out to
extremest doctrines, bequeathed with all their immense services
to our national mind.
Hence the bit of truth in the often
quoted saying, " a nation of shopkeepers," which stiQ stmgs too
flimsy, flippant,

involuntarj'

French.

evils

hard.
The one-sided view of life made the eye say to the
hand, " I have no need of thee." And worse still, it pitched

unduly low the tone of thought by satisfying men with a
moderate tangible desideratum, and by ordering the spii'it to go
For what is Glory, rightly understood,
so far and no farther.
but Duty nobly done, and honourably acknowledged by the
world ? Is it not the temple of Idealit}', to be reached only
by the steady plodding path of Realit}' ?
* Thus a popular writer of the present day gravely informs us that Bacon's way
" the only way of procuring knowledge."

is

CHAPTER XXXVII.
TO ITACOLUJII PEAK.
Pelos ingremes trilhos tortuosos

Da

Sen"a Altiva, que os CabeQos ergui

Calvos, arripiados.
{,riiii(/inm

The

Norhi'vto de Soiizn Sih'a.)

showed thick and heavy vapours
surging up from the lowlands, and careering over the Peak.
All
I augured,
judged it to be a sign of cold, perhaps of snow.
and too rightly, that it was rain. Heavy showers fell at intervals
during the night, and the morning Avas misty. We were to he
guided by Sr. Jose da Costa Lana, an employe of the Commendador.
He opined that the clay-paths or rock-streets Avould
be sli2:)pery, and that the hangings of purple cloud upon the
summit would conceal the view.
We resolved, however, to take
our chance, and about 8 a.m. we found ourselves upon the
Marianna road.
Presently we turned off to the south, and making easting,
reached the little church of Padre (Joiio de) Faria (Fialho),
evening of

tlie

last da}-

another ancient colonist
front of

it.

:

a fine Cruzeiro or stone-cross stands in
lies the " mine of Padre Faria," now

In the hollow

up with rubbish. It dates from the first Golden Age of
Minas the " old men "have run levels into the hard lode, and

filled

:

the position on a hill side will enable

it

much pumping

OUivant,

:

therefore

Mr.

S.

to be unwatered without

of

Ouro

Preto,

by means of a Company.
The main
auriferous veins dip northwards, and the lateral branches form

proposes to exploit
zigzags in

it

all directions.

or rich Jacutinga,

coal)

The

containing gold, sometimes in

is

IMulata
sight

" Carvoeira "
(Adularia),

a

(j^lace

of

felspar

and sometimes not, and

disseminated spots and lumpy lines of arsenical jjjTites.
precious metal is found also in pot-holes (panellas), in

finely

The

mateiial

Pedra

TO ITACOLl'Ml TEAK.

cH.U'. xxxvii.]

cavities called " fovmigueiros " or ant-holes.

877

Tlie assay gave a

carat of 23 and 23'3, and the loss in treatment was 5 per cent.

I'urning to the right, we crossed a s])ur of ground, and fell into
tlie " Funil" ^^lllev ; over the torrent rushing down the deep

hlack gap

is

thrown

a very

"
shaky bridge, with the " garde-fou

on the ground. Here is a small cascade wliich perhaps merits
After a long
romantic name, " Cachoeira de Cintra." *
elbow to the east, we turned westward, and began a serious
ascent, which jiresently showed us a clump of white houses, in
which we recognised Passagem. INIarianna and its pretty basin
are hidden by a hill, but a quarter of a mile ride to the left shows

its

them

in bird's-eye plan.

of ascent, but
the citizens

On

it is

From

had never heard of

these heights

the episcopal city there

described as a kind of gulley, and

we passed

is

a line

many

of

it.

fellows with pistols slinking about

they had probably been baulking the recruiting
bush
officer.
In the Bi"a/.il, where leagues are many and where men
are few, people readily follow the precept of Montesquieu, " If
you are accused of having stolen the towers of Notre-Dame, bolt
at once." Here "misenim est deprensi," not for that sin only, but
There were two places, mere ledges of rock with
for all offences.
loose stones, up which the mules had to s|)ring like goats.
The
vegetation dwindled as we rose higher, and the ground was
clothed with the dwarf Sumara and other Bromelias.
These may
"
"
arbres des vo3'ageurs in various regions.
be compared with the
A full-grown plant gives a pint of water, collected between the
stalk and the bases of the leaves.
Wlien fresh it is pure, wholesome, and free from vegetable taste, but not "nectar." After a time
of drought the fluid becomes turbid, a fine black mould collects in
it, and dead insects and live tadpoles, especialh' those of a small pale
yellow frog (Hyla luteola), require it to be filtered.
The shrubby
growth suggested the Carrapato-tick but we are now above his level.
After an hour's ride Ave reached the last and highest spring,
and here the two negroes, who carried the provision basket, de(dared they would await us, as we were now close to the " Stone."
The proposition was at once overruled.
Itacolumi Peak rose
straight before us, now a spectre looining tall through tlie grey
the

:

;

* A friend told Soutliey, the historian,
that the lands around S. Paulo, the city,

reminded him

of Ointra.

The comparison

would have Ixen juster
Itacolumi neighbourhood,

if api»lied

to the

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

378

mist,

[chap, xxxvii.

completely wrapped in cloiul-swatlie, then standing out

tlieii

It looked like a diamond edition of
with startling distinctness.
the " Serra do Caraca," and indeed the material is the same.
It

reminded me of Pilot Knob, Mo., where 700 feet of specular
iron are piled in " masses of all sizes, from a pigeon's egg to a
also

Botli mother and child

seem to change
But a belt of
impassable forest lay between us and our bourne, and these giants
always look much nearer than they reall}^ are.
Therefore we
middle-sized church."

shape when viewed from each hundred Aards.

/'sprang

Many

" the niggers.
places in the Brazil are called " Itacolumi."

There are
two others in Minas one to the west of Itambe, called also from
its seven smnmits " Sete Peccados Mortaes " another is on the
light bank of the Upper S. Francisco, south of Paranagua, and
there is a tliird and a fourth to the north-west of Maranhao. The
word is properly rendered " Pedra e Menino," Stone andPappoose
(Red-skin child). Mr. AValsh mistranslates it "child of stone;"
and he is followed by Sr. Norberto de Souza Silva, Avho exi)lains
"Ita-conuni" by " Mancebo de Pedra."*'
It is also written

—

:

"Itacolumy," and more exactly " Itacolumim." f
This Peak has given its name to a rock, or rather to three very

The

different kinds of rock.

to

"
older writers apply " Itacolumite

or yellow sandstone, flexible like a plate of gutta

a Avhite

termed a " great geological curiosity " by our press.
It is found in Georgia and North Carolina, and it greatly
resembles that of the Lower Himalaya, in which thin layers of
the silicious granular matter are associated Avith small plates of
talc.
The " Pedra elastica " Avas described two centuries and a
half ago by the Padre Anchieta.
Dr. Charles WetheriU
(American Journal of Science and Art) declares that the preperclia,

*

corrupts
Curumim to " Kounonmy ; "
perhaps, however, the sounds were hardly
distinguishable.
He gives as the ages of

middle-aged 6. Tliouyuae, old man.
(III. ii. 261) gives "Cunimim,"
gai'9oii, in tiie dialect of the Aldea do Kio
das Pedras, and the Tupy Dictionary translates "Curuniim" hy Meniuo.
The Indian
r was changed to I by the colonists, who
also docked the termination.
I find a
distinct laliial nasalization like the Dewanagari jj, somewhat like a French i pronounced through the nose, and as in the
Portuguese Jard(»!.
The Iberian tongues
take a pride in pronouncing all their letters,

mankind,

and

alto cuiiie

(aba),

Do Itacolumi, gentil mauceljo
Que Imlio converter-se em pedra

ilea.

{A Caheqa do Martyr),
t Curious to say, 8r. B. J. da Silva
Guimaraes (p. 408, Poesias Ilio de Janeiro,
Gamier, 186.5) declares that "Itacohuny"
was a name substituted for " Itamonte "
by the poet Claudio Manoel. Yves D'Evreux
;

—

miry,^ child
4.

1.
;

Kounoumy

Peitan, babe
3.

;

Kounoumy

2.

Kounoumy, adolescent
mau
Ava
5.

Ouassou,

;

;

St. Hil.

as

it

it is

regrettable to see a

should not be spoken.

word

^vlitten

cii.vr.

TO ITACOLUMI PEAK.

XXXVII.]

379

vailing opinion as to the elasticity of the stone resulting from

the presence of mica

is

erroneous, and that

if

a thin plate of this

sandstone he suhjected to examination hy the microscope, the
flexibility will be found to depend upon minute articulations
where the sand-grains interlock. In my specimens the stone
abounds in light j'ellow mica, and when the friable material
crumbles, the two main component parts at once separate.
Near
Sao Thome das Letras, before alluded to, there is a fine quarry
of this elastic variety.
In the deeper parts the strata become
thin, and gradually pass into natural slabs of the finest quartzite,

stratified quartz, of

This

course losing

flexible stone is

all elasticity.

not the matrix of the diamond and the

although sometimes associated with it.
Diamantine
Itacolumite " is, as will presently appear, a hard talcose rock

topaz,
'
•'

of distinctly laminated quartz, Avhite, red, or yeUow, granular,

with

finel}'

disseminated points of mica

:

it

is

either stratified

In Minas the name is popularly given to
the refractory sandstone grits, and to a fine crystalline rock
evidently aft'ected by intense heat.
Curious to sa}', Itacolumi
Peali consists neither of this, nor of that, nor of the other, yet
its name has been given to all three.*'
or

unstratified.

The last formations, laminated quartz and sandstone grits,
fonu with Itaberite, almost all the Highlands in this part of
the Brazil.

is often caused by the triple
Thus M. Halfieldt explains Itacolumite by

Considerable confusion

use of the word.

" quartzo-schistoso, schisto de quartzo, micachisto-quartzoso,
gelenk-quartz, and elasticher sandstein."
In school-books each
author interprets it his own way. It would be well to limit it, as
Gardner does (Chap. 13) "to hard iron slate."

Leaving the water, we turned westward, passing the Capao dos
Ingiezes or " Tree Motte " of English pic-nickers, which reminded

me

of a certain estancia at Tenerife.

* Allow me, as regards the term " Itacolumitc/' to quote what A[. IJouhee said
with great truth aliout the groups of the
Transitional formation known as Silurian
and Cambrian,
" I cannot understand the
necessity of going to seek in a corner of
England the type of divisions and a classification of so iiupoitant a nature which is
found fully developed in Normandy and
Brittany, Cevennes, Ardennes, the PjTeAgain, what can Ije
uees generally, &c."

—

I

cannot find that any

than to substitute "Devonian" for
Sandstone," for a system which
extends not only over Northern Europe,
but also over Northern America.
Itacolumite" in its three .several sen.ses belongs to the glolie, not to IMinas Geraes, to
which but not by which it has been limited,
He might have
f Relatorio, on p. 78.
termed it more coiTectly flexible Itacolumite, granular or quartzose Itacolumite,
woi-se

"Old Red

' '

and

crystalline Itacolumite.

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

380

of the writing travellers have

made

the ascent,

,yet all

[<hap. xxxvir.

the silent

men

have so done. Ahout this Capao is a fine site for a small settlement
tlie hydropathist who " miiss gehirge liaben " will here find in
Our next
the dry season the clearest air and the purest Avater.
operation was to lose the way amongst paths ramifying to every
ihumb, and we went too for west towards the Itatiaia village which
gleamed Avliite upon its hill.
At last, after a tough struggle over
rocks and slides, we passed round to the south of the " Stone,"
and after three hours' riding stood a little above it. The winding
goat-track numbered some six to seven miles, and the direct
distance cannot be more than three, for we heard the clocks of
Ouro Preto striking the hour.

After a fight with the high winds I boiled the thermometer,

which gave 5860

feet,* still

in this section of the Brazil

We

Chain. t

and the
little

showing that the culminating range
as in Eastern Africa, the Maritime

is,

then proceeded to examine the singular formation,

ii-on-stone so distracted ni}' hearings, that they deserve

The base

confidence.

is

sion, a vertebra in the " Serra

a short ridge, a latitudinal expan" or do Espinha^o, which

Grande

material is " Jacutinga,"
soft micaceous and ferruginous schist, " Itacolumite" proper or
liere

The

trends from south to north.

hard iron slate, and quartzose micaceous slate, with a dip of G5°.
The " Ita " rises on the western side of a quoin-shaped mass,
bluff to the west

:

it is

one of the

many

pikes and organs which

at lower elevations are seen bristling over this part of the chain,

and
and

it is

surrounded by huge blocks and boulders of

To judge by

all

shapes

500 to GOO feet below the
highest point of the parent-bluff, which, seen from the Avest, has
a tabular form
and thus the extreme height above sea level
would be about 6400 feet. The " Pedra" is a core of the hardest
sizes.

the eye,

it lies

;

and polished like a metal casting, and the surf\ice
shows joints but no stratification, whilst the sides are striped by
wind and Aveather into vertical and inclined striae. Formerlv it

iron-slate, black

* The usual estimate is about 8000
palmas = 5733 English feet. Mr. Gerber has
1750 metres = 5727 feet, and Mr. Keith
Johnston's last map 5750 feet.
My observations on a level with the summit of the
Pedra gave 5860 feet above sea-level (B. P.
202°-50
Temp. 57°), or 2487 feet above
Ouro Preto. At the Hermit's Cave below
the "Pappoose" I obtained 5095 (B. P.
,

59°) above .sea-level, and
below the " Ita."
+ Nearly half a centuiy ago it was
remarked that these Organ Mountains,
where even small glaciers are found, would,
like the Sant' Angelo Mountains of the Bay
of Naples, supply the Fluminenses with
ice, which they import at a high price,

203°-l,

765

feet

Temp.

TO ITACULUMI PEAK.

ciLVp. xxxvii.]

381

could be uscended by a chain fastened to the summit

has

now

disappeared, and nothing but a

swarm up

We
Preto

its

;

this

aid

fly

or a lizard could

Oolumi."

Seen from Ouro

smooth metal.

then proceeded to view the

'*

appears almost to touch the mother stone, a smooth slope

it

intervening.

It is

humus, protruding

found to be separated by a deep gap of loose
rock, and decomposed vegetation, and the

matted with a tangled growth of trees and shrubs, thorny
bushes and llianas, which catch the legs like man-traps. Del)ath is

scending to the east, we stood opposite a dark mass of the same
metallic formation and aspect as the upper feature

;

the shape was

that of a gorilla's skull, not unlike, but about three times larger
than the " Bosistow Logan Stone."
Slipping down sundry

we found below the eastern base a cross and a
hermit.
A skull was lately picked

rock-drops,

cave once inhabited by a

up

in

Troglodytic

this

a " Sariio

;

" *

refuge,

and doubtless

it

which the black guide called
has given shelter to

many

a

Maroon.
Returning after a

difficult

climb to the breakfast-ground, we

soon ascertained that the two negroes

guard the provaunt
drunk could be. They
paid the penalty by not reaching home before midnight, and how
they reached it at all without cat's eyes is still a puzzle to me.
The last shred of mist had now been melted by the sun of noon,
and the tall pillar glowed and glanced in the fervid rays like a bar

had spent

their time well

of specular iron-stone.
city

of

Ouro Preto,

left to

—were drunk

A

little

sitting

as

to the east of north

stiffiy

the

u})on

Sebastiao, with feet dipping to the stream-bank on

13ehind

it

lay the

brown

with ruined chapel
blue lines

lines of the

lay the
Siio

its

south.

Morro de Santa Anna,

cragg}',

a little to the west of north stretched the

;

of the " Serra

range, t like a

t

hard lap of

lumpy

'\o

Caraca," and north the Piedade

cloud, closed the horizon.

On

the

south-

west the jagged walls of S. Jose d'El-Rei struck the eye, and the
rest
*

was a tumbled surface of rounded

For

Salai),

a salunn.

jironiised to uie, or rather

the

The

was

skull

through

me

Anthroii()lo<,'ical Soi-iety of Loiiddii.

to
Jt

Imt this gentle liint may
The direction of
cause it to he forwarded.
the Anthroi>ological Society is No. 4, St.
^lai-tin's Place, London, W.C.

was not

f

M.

sent,

<.TCrl>cr's

map

places

the

Peak

hills

sii\itli-east uf

\nits it too

subsiding into longer
Oiin)

Jolmston's
I took
protracted they iiroved

I'letu.

]\Lr.

far to the south-west.

lieariiigs, Init

when

useless.

J Mr. Gordon took an obsen'ation from
the ea-stern side of the Peak base, whence
the western point of the SciTa da Piedade
bore due north.

THE HIC4HLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

382

[ciiAr.

xxxvil.

and more level Hues as tliej' reached the rim of the basin in whose
centre we stood.
The descent was far more pleasant than the ascent, not always
the

case in

Brazilian mule-travelling.

enchanting prospect lay
the

full

The

before us, and thus

beauties

of

an

we could enjoy

"unfading and inexhaustible pleasure Avhich the face of

Nature always gives when presented under new and varying
aspects."
In the lower levels smokes by day and nightly blaze

show that the grass is being fii'ed ; the proceeding, however, is
punished at this season with "posturas" or fines, because the
birds, especially the fine game Cadorna,* at which dogs point,
are nesting.

This sensible idea deserves to be carried out beyond

The afternoon was magnificent,
and we returned long before sunset, delighted with our excursion,
and grateful to our guide, Sr. Ijana, who had made the toil so

the lunits of city jurisdiction.

great a pleasure.
*

S.

Hil. (HI.

ii.

203) suspects that the

Cadorna is the TjTiamus brevipes of Pohl,
and that the Perdiz (Ynambii, or Inambii)
Both words are taken
is the T. rufiscens.
from Portugal, and ajiplied to birds of the
New Workl, specifically, and often geneThe same was done with
rically, different.

"pheasant," "partridge," and " qnail"
Northern America and British India,
The other common kinds of Tinamns arc
the Juo (Tinannis noctivagns), described
by Prince Max.
A hirger species is the
Macfica (Tinamns Braziliensis).

in

CHAPTER XXXVIir.
^THE MINEIRO.
Die klaren Regioneu
^Yo die Reinen Formen wohnen.
ScJuller.

Section

I.

THE MINEIRO HISTORICALLY
Before

VIEWED.;

leaving the Imperial City, which

of old Miiias,

it

is

the

modeni

appears advisable to give a sketch of

its

t^-pe

inhabi-

tant, the Mineiro, avIio, like his ancestor the Paulista, is still the
tA'pical

man

The

first

in the Brazil.*

from Portugal settled in S. Paulo in the
century.
As happened to the
refugees from England, the morgue of the old country repreThe accurate and painssented them to be mere roturiers.f
colonists

earlier

half of the

taking

Santista

sixteenth

Gaspar Madre de Deus has, therefore,

Fr.

thought proper to investigate the origin of the settlers at Santos,
now the port of S. Paulo, and he has proved that they belonged
to lionourable families in Portugal

The blood

and

Italy.

it brought with it
connnonly called pride of birth, and the
immediate result was a deterioration of race. "White Avomen were
rarel}' imported to a country which Avas in a chronic state of savage

was, in fact, too honourable

an ahnost insane

*

My

permit nie to toucli
veiy lightly moreover,
throughout these volumes a variety of
anthropological notes have been recor.led
wherever the suliject suggested them.
+ Both rajili.sUs and rortugriesc can now
r.Bord to snnlc at the witticisms ot the old
comedy-writcr (iar(;;io.
Parccc-me que cstou cntrc Paulistas,
Que aiTotando Longonha, me aturduim
Co' a fahulosa illusti-c dcscendencia

upon the

si^ace

will

siil)ject

;

vanit}',

;

De sens

Km

clavos Avos, que

tie cii

foram

jaleco e ceroulas.

« jrothinks
^^.j,^

l.y

Paulistas <,'irt I stand,
^-^^^
^^^^^, ^^^^^^,^i ^,y
.

f^,,j

^;^

wSirfal.ulous illustrious descent
y^.^^^^ nnccstoi-s renowned, who hence donii-tod

lu drawers and doublet."

Mate I have explained to mean Paraguay

tea.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

384

[chap, xxxviii.

war, and the settlers, as a rule, disdained to intermarry with the
Yet, as in the United States, unions
but barbarous blood * were never held to be

daughters of the Redskin.
Avith the free-born

disgraceful, and in process of time some houses have come to
boast their descent from the " Indian Princess."

But when

began in earnest the African was
all times and in all places a
dishonour amongst white races, who in this point obey an
unerring instinct, advanced at a rapid pace. I can quote the
case of a city in Minas where amongst three thousand, or including the vicinity, five thousand souls, there are only two families
On the coast the colonists found
of pure European blood.
daughters to men from the Old
of
marrying
their
opportunities
agriculture

imported, and the servile mixture, at

World, and the lowest of "high-born beggars " was preferred to
But in the
the Avealthiest and most powerful of mule-breeds.
Hence, even to the
interior mulattisni became a necessary evil.
present day, there

is

a strange aversion to marriage, which, in so

young a country, forcibl}^ strikes the observer. Men do not like
to " marry for ever," and the humane Latin law, which facilitates
the naturalisation of illegitimate children, deprives matrimony of
]^razilian moralists have long since
an especial inducement.
evil in hand, and have even proposed that public

taken the

employment should be refused to those living openly in a state of
concubinage. The day of sumptuary and domestic laws, however,
is now departed, and men no longer respect rulers who cannot
separate the private from the public lives of their subjects.

Presently to hunting red-skins was added another industry
gold-digging.

Before the end of the century which witnessed the

establishment of the
to the

first l\)i'tuguese

colony, multitudes fiocked

Far AVest, and thus much of the noblest Paulista blood

became Mineiro. The " turbulent riches of metals " did their
usual work
a vagrant horde, a " colluvies gentiiun," displayed all
the rowdyism and ruffianism which Ave of this day have Avitnessed
As Avas said of
in California, San Francisco, and Carson CitA'.
Faith,
the Indians, the immigrants had neither " F., L., nor II "
IjaAv, nor Buler
and the motto of the moving multitude seems to
;

—

—

have

been—
Queiu (liuheiro tivel',
que quizer.f

Far;i o
'*

eacos

The
i_la

IiuliaiiH

Terra "

used to

call

negroes " ^la-

— monkeys of the land.

t Wlioso money

May

do

all

acfiuircs,

he desires.

—
THE MINEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII.]

As

I

am not

385

writing a history of Minas, a mere sketch of events

which distinguished her capital
animated the race.

"War

Shortly after the

show the

will

of the

Emboabas

"

spirit

the

Antonio Dias was promoted, by the Act of June

8,

which

village

of

1711, to

name of " ViUa Eica." Between 1700
and 1713 the lloyal Quint of gold had been raised upon the batea
or i^an
in 1714, however, D. Braz Balthasar Silveira, in its
stead, established capitation Fifths and toll-houses (Registros or
Contagens).
The latter aided in the collection by taking dues
upon all imports. In 1718 they were dismembered from the
Fifths and were farmed out. In 1719, when D. Pedro de Almeida,
Conde de Assumar, Governor and Captain-General of Minas,
proposed, instead of the poll-tax, to erect pubhc mints and
smelting-houses, serious troubles took place. At Ouro Podre, the
richest place adjoining Ouro Preto, some two thousand men rose
in arms, and about midnight of June 28, razed the foundations of
the building that had been begun, and attempted to massacre the
Ouvidor Geral of the Comarca, Martinho Vieira. This violent
partisan fled, leaving his house to be plundered.
On July 2
the mutineers
compelled their Municipal Chamber to take
the van, and, marching to the " Leal Villa de N'"* S'^ do Carmo."
now Marianna, forced their fifteen conditions upon the Governor,*
Some of the articles signed by the contending parties are quaint
in the extreme.
The authorities are accused of "working more
miracles than Santa Lusia," in defrauding the people, whilst
No. 11 runs thus " They (the msurgents) require that the Companies of Dragoons shall feed at their own cost, and not at the
township, with the merited

;

:

expense of the public."

Thus

the

mutineers obtained their pardon, which was,

course, officially- null.
Villa Rica

war.

;

de

Campo,

Pascoal

of various appointments

;

his

becoming President

* The letter of the Count of Assumar,
" horroroso raotim " is
describing this
printed in the Almanack, 1865 (p. 101
104), and the conditions which he signed

VOL.

I.

da Silva Guimaraes,
son,

D. Manoel Mos-

and Sebastiiio da Veiga
of an independent organisation,

queu'a da Rosa, elected himself Ouvidor
Cabral,

of

ringleaders (os cabecas) returned to

and, in the pride of success, divided the spoils of

The Mestre

disposed

The

;

Almanack, 18G4 (p. 56). Southey (iii.
158 161) has translated the Count's
rei^ort almost literally, and has thus taken
a one-sided view of the atlair.
in

38,

—

C C

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

388

instanced, in a friendly way,

tlie

[chap, xxxviii.

Governor to take refuge

at

Sao

Paulo.

But the Count of Assumar was now prepared for energetic
He sent a Company of Dragoons to Villa Rica, seized
Cabral and despatched him to Bio de Janeiro.
On July 15 he
laid hands upon the rest of the " poderosos," " with many other
accomplices, whose multitude caused him to forget their names ;"
action.

amongst them, however, were Frei Vicente Botellio, Fr. Francisco
de Monte Alverne, Joao Ferreira Diniz, and Felipe dos Santos.
The latter had been sent to Cachoeira do Campo with the ^dew of
raising the people, described b}^ theii' ruler, in his " grand w^ay,"
as a " \il canalha."
He was chosen as an example to terrify the
captives, and was torn to pieces b}^ four wild horses in the streets
of the capital.
Pascoal, the ringleader, was sent to Lisbon,
where he brought an action against the Governor, and died before
he could establish l^his innocence.
The rest, "who had been
blinded by the demon," were imprisoned, and their goods were
bui'ned without form of process on the hill of Ouro Podre, which
thence took the name of Morro da Queimeda.*
Immediately after this affair, Minas Geraes was dismembered
from the captamcy of S. Paulo, and Villa Rica was made her
capital.
On August 18, 1721, she received her first Governor
and Captain- General, D. Lom-enco de Almeida. He established
the foundries and mints, which at once produced counterfeiting.
In 1730 a society was estabhshed at Rio de Janeii'o
to defraud the Qumt, and one Ignacio de Souza Ferreii'a, and

Manuel Francisco, a man of

rare mechanical ability, were sent

They chose

out to find a proper location.

a

" secular and

fearful" forest at the foot of the Great Serra,f near the place

now

—

Caetano da Moeda of the Coin. The aflfaii' came
he ordered the Governor of Minas to
make inquiiies, and presently two men turned " king's evidence."
The house was sm-rounded by armed men, the chiefs were taken,
called S.

to the ears of the Viceroy

and, in 1731,

;

Manuel Francisco was sent

was executed with such

The Hill

severity,

of the Burning.
the range took the name of
Serra da Moeda "
of the Coin.
There
ai-e still legends of treasure
Luried near the
site where the stamping house stood.
Other
^

^

'

+ Hence

—

to the scaffold.

Justice

and the accomplices were so

establistments for falsifying money were
set up at Catas Altas de Mato Deutro, and
elsewhere.
The coined pieces were as pure
as those issued by the Mint, but thoy had
forgotten to pay the Royal Quint.

—
CHAP. XXXVIII.]

THE

MINEir.O.

3S7

numerous, that Descmbargadores were sent from Rio de Janeiro,
and tliey brought actions against the authorities that had shown
excess of zeal.
In 1735 (Pizarro) the " Mint" of Villa Rica was
abolished, and from that time forward only gold dust was in
circulation.

This event, combined with the immense increase of contrarendered foundries and mints well-nigh useless.
On

band,

March

20, 1734, a Junta of the people, assisted by delegates

from

the municipal bodies, met the second Governor, D. Andre de

Mello de Castro, Conde das Galveas, accepted an annual composition of 100 arrobas, 3200 lbs. of gold.
But the palmy days of
*' pick and pan " were ended.
In the next year a capitation tax

was

and stores were heavily burdened, and gold was
These measures caused the greatest
dissatisfaction, and finally, by Roj^al Letter of Dec. 3, 1750,
D. Jose re-established the Casas de Fundicao, and accepted as
Quint one hundred arrobas of gold.
But Portugal, the Paterfamilias, was very fond of borrowing, on
every possible pretext, from the rich and unhappy bantling over
the water. Imposts were devised to assist in rebuilding Lisbon
after the earthquake of Nov. 1, 1755.
These were continued by
Royal Order of Jan. 4, 1796, when the Ajuda Palace was burnt
down.
The disimos or tithes were collected with such vigour
that those who farmed them were, with rare exceptions, ruined.
Tolls levied at ferries were sent to the Home Treasury, which
was further swollen by fees paid on taking office, or rather by the
sale of posts mider government.
The salt tax was made a
bui'den. StamjDed paper was not forgotten, and a forced "literary
subsidy " was imposed by Royal Order to defray the charges of
And, begimiing
lu'ovincial education, which was never given.
with 1711, large subsidies, donations, and benevolences
levied, shops

rated at 1 $ 500 per oitava.

—

mider pain of the galleys were requii-ed for
Such was
the extraordinary expenses of the Com-t of Portugal.
the colonial system of those days, nor can an}- countrj' in Europe
The
charge its neighbour with conduct worse than its own.
inevitable end was to drive men to independence.*
voluntary, but

* Tlie Viscount of Barljaccna had brought
out the last orders for the voluntary suhat
sidy in the matter of the Ajuda Palace
a time when the aiTcars of Fifths amounted
to 700 r.n-obas, 22,400 lbs. of gold, equal
;

to all the actual circulation in the Proyncc.
On the trial of Gonzaga, it >vas proved that
the poet had urged the Intcndant to levy,

not one year's Fifths, but the whole arrears,
He pleaded that he had so acted in order

c c 2

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

388

The memomLle "
first

blow struck.

Inconficlencia " was,

it

[chap, xxxviit.

has heen seen, the

Liberty lay bleeding and exhausted for a time

but sixteen 3'ears after that tragedy D. Maria I. and D. Joao
landed at Bahia, and the colony became at once the mother

AVhen the constitutional movement began, the Ouro
will, and chose for their leader Lt.-Col. Jose
Maria Pinto Peixoto. The last of the Governors and CaptainsGeneral, D. Manoel de Portugal e Castro, closed the gates of his
Palace, the doors were burst open, and the cannon was taken out
to command the streets.
Next morning (Sept. 21, 1821) the
countr3\

Pretans arose with a

"vivas " for the Constitution.

l^eople filled the square, shouting

They required the Municipal Chamber
Government, which

at once entered

to

upon

elect

a Provisional

functions, headed,

its

D. Manoel. A second Provisional
on May 20, 1822; political agitation
continued, and the peoi)le would not recognize the future
founder as provisional ruler of the Empire, or Prince Regent.
D. Pedro, with his usual manliness and daring, alone and after
an amusing scene at a place called the " Cliiqueiro," jH-eceding
his escort, on April 9, 1822, entered the city he was rewarded
with an enthusiastic reception.*
On Jan. 30, 1823, the Comarca
do Ouro Preto was created, and Villa Pica retook her old name
which, however, had never been forgotten by the people.
The

much

against his will,

Government was

b}^

installed

;

;

President of the Province of INlinas Geraes, Jose Teixeira da
Fonseca Yasconcellos, entered upon oflice Feb. 29, 1824.
Nine years after this event troubles broke out at Ouro Preto,
but they were easily suppressed. In 1842 the disturbances Avere
of a much more serious nature, and assumed a form bordering
upon secession. Since that time the Mineiro has been tranquil.
But the past should warn statesmen that a race so fiery f must
have no reasonable subject of complaint, if it be expected to
remain quiet and content. Its sole grievance at present is want
as
of postal and telegTammic communication, of roads, railwa3's
has been seen, there is not yet a kilometre of rail and river
first

—

to convince tlie Home Government tliat the
measirre was imijossible, and thus to obtain
a remission of the debt.
But the judges
were of opinion that his object had been to
increase the irritation of the people, and
more especially as the furious Tira-dentes
had already mooted the question with an
intention which he scorned to deny.

—

* The second visit was not so fortunate,
and immediately after it the Emperor re-

signed.

+ In

this point they suggest the Basques,

whom

the celebrated Gonzalo Fernandez
de Cordova iised to say t'hat he would rather
keep lions than govern them,
of

"

THE MINEIRO,

CHAP, xxxviri.]

navigation

with these improved

;

it

389

ma}' confident!}' look to a great

and glorious future.

Section

II.

THE PHYSICAL MAX.
I will here offer a few remarks

upon the

descriptive anthro-

pology of Minas Geraes.
Before the stranger has passed a month in the Brazil he begins

from the European.

to distinguish the native

The

Brazilian *

bears the same physical relation to his ancestor the Portuguese

American of the Union

as does the

centuries and

Dming

to the Britisher.

the

Xew-AVorld European has
developed a more nervous temperament he has become lighter in

last three

a-half the

;

Aveight

—the

maximum mean

in the masculine

assumed, in the Brazil,

at four arrobas

—and rather

agile

why and

gender

= 128 lbs., about

is

usually

nine stone

than strong and sturdy. Hence the
"
Brazihan calls himself Pe de Cabra," t or goat-foot, opposed
to the Portuguese, who is " Pe de Chumbo," foot of lead.
The

by the thickness and coarseness
old Englander of
sanguine and lymphatic diathesis in New England.
Here the
nervous temperament accuses itself in the thin, arched, and
decided form of the organ, with the nostrils convoluted, and
strongly marked alse, and the high " bridge," which gives the
Boman profile, full at once of energy and finesse.
The older comparative anthropologists, from the great monogenist Hippocrates to Buffon, Prichard, and Buckle, + made the
great differentiator between nation and nation "climate;" i.e.,
latter also is readily recognized

of

his

nose,

— " noscitur

the aggregate of

all

a

the external physical circumstances apper-

taining to each locality, in

the

first

naso," like the

its

relation to organic nature.

—

asserted that black and white skins

skin deep

—were

for the question

mere modifications of each

* Brazileiro opposed to the Portngiiez, or
Filho do Keino, impolitely called Portuga,
Pe de Chumbo, Bicudo, Marinheiro, Gallego,

and

And

modern school being orthodox monogenists, boldly

enemies of Brazilian Independence, and accepted in a modified signification by the
people,

+

so forth.

t An opprobrious term invented by

the

was then but

other, j)roduced by

"

Who

moreover

(i.

567) speaks of the

fanciful peculiarity of race,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

390

[chap, xxxviii.

wliicli tlie}" evoked.
This palpable
was rejected by serious students almost as soon as it
was propounded. Presently the anatomists and pl\Ysiologists,

complicated agencies

tlie

absiurdity

pressing to the other extreme, everywhere detected fixity of

with race, and race

onl}',

" Eace

in histor3\

ty\)e

everything," said

is

Dr. Knox.
I ventm-e to opine that the truth lies between the two, and that

both schools have generalised upon insufficient grounds. "Si I'anthropologie est encore si obscure, c'est peut-etre qu'on abeaucoup
trop raisonne sur cette science et trop pen observe."

Auguste de

St. Hilaire in 1819,

and the dictum

Thus

says

deserves to be

still

written in caj^ital letters.

The notable approximation of the Ibero-Brazilian and the
Anglo-American of the Union, two peoples sprung from two distinct
and different ethnic centres, can hardly be explained
excejDt as the result of local causes, which have assimilated the
adven£e to the autochthonic type, the so-called
for instance, the

extremities,

nacy

:

Red Man

:

* hence,

beauty, the smallness and the delicacy of the

which

is

often excessive, degenerating into effemi-

and English the hands and feet are
and bony, evidently made by and for hard use.

in the Portuguese

large, fleshy,

Hence,

too, the so-called " hatchet-ftice,"

common

to the citizens

Empire and the Republic, the broad and prominent brow,
the long thin cheeks, flat or concave, the features generally more
sharj^ly marked, and the i)rotruded, massive, and often cloven
chin, the quadrangular mentmn, that striliing pecuharity of
of the

" Indian"

it
f blood. In both, too, the liaii- is evidently changed
loses the Caucasian or Ar^^an " wave," and becomes straight, lank,

glossy,

:

and admirably

sown," and thus the

thick.

The whiskers

are often

"clear

reduced to the "goatee,"
"which," says M. Maurice Sand, " donnerait I'au." vulgaii-e a
Jupiter lui-meme." +
facial

pile

is

* I am pleased to see ttat Eschwegs
denies tlie cojiper colour to the American
races as a rule.
They are bom of a whitish
yellow tinge, and they become a sunburnt

and Japhetic, must

brown.

original

+ The word " Indian,"

as Mi-.

Charnock

warns us, jiroperly speaking, means one
born in the Valley of the Indus.
But what
can the unfortunate anthropologist do in
these young days, when such terms as Caucasian and Turanian, Semitic, Hamitic,

of lietter

X
with

I

quote Mr.
him.
The
;

still

be used for want

?

it

Sand without agreeing
"goatee" is not only

also suits the features.

All tribes of Indians are not confined to
a thin pile about the mouth, and growing
There was one
only three inches long.
clan whom the Portuguese called from their
"
Barbados." The same may
large beards,
be observed in Inner Africa.

THE MINEIRO.

cn.vr. XXXVIII.]

S91

form and approximation to the Indian
and I cannot explain it except as the
effect of climate, which, in Hindostan, develops the lymphatic,
This belief
and, in Utah territoiy, the nervous temperament.*
in " Creolism " may be heretical, and, if so, tlie sooner it is stated
and disproved the better, f But the instances populai'ly cited to
prove the absolute permanence of race, as the Parsees in Western
do not
to quote a few of many
India, and the Jews in Aden
touch the question. These tribes have moved over a small area
of ground
they have made little departure in latitude, less in
longitude.
My observations come from the New "World, where,
with the exception of those that have passed over the frozen
Arctic Sea via Behring's Straits, all mammalia are specifically
Under similar
different from those of the so-called Old World.
conditions a distinct Creolism has been remarked by travellers in
Tliis modification of

type I hold to he a

fact,

—

—

:

Australia.

—

The Mineiro meaning the man whose ancestors, or at least
whose father is born in the country is easily known even amongst

—

* The "temperament," also, is a purely
empirical system, which will cease to be
regarded when the chemistry of the blood,
of which it is the effect, shall have been
sufficiently studied.
The subject is too extensive for a foot-note, but it may, I think,
be shown that the Luso-Brazilian, as well
as the Anglo-American, has been modified
morally as well as physically by climate,
and has assimilated in national character to
the aborigines.
To the high development of the nervous
diathesis we must attribute the remarkable

with which mesmerism, or animal
magnetism, acts both in the Empire and in
A practitioner at Sao Paulo
the Republic.
found three out of nine students subject to
Extraordinary cases are
the influence.
At Maceio, in the Province of
cited.
Alag6as, there is a girl, the niece of the
Barao de J * * *, who, they say, can, by
power of volition, give to a glass of water
the smell, and, to a certain extent, the appearance of any liquor required milk,
she has, moreover, prowine, or liqueur
duced in it distinct layers, each preserving
A committee of six mediits peculiarity.
cal men assisted at the trial, where, moreover, was a professional prestidigitateur,
who confessed himself unable to understand, though he had often shown the trick
in the way of trade, how the changes were
facility

—

:

Spenser St. John tells a
262) of a woman in
who cooked one of his own
eggs by simply breathing upon it.

Mr.

effected.

similar story
Borneo proper,

now

It is

(ii.

too late to ignore subjects so

important as intro\'ision, thought-reading,
and medical clairvoyance. The majority of
men, who have never witnessed the pheof course deride and dislike
the subject. Not so he who seeks to understand the causes of things he will hold it
incumbent iipon him to investigate the

nomena, will

:

truth to the utmost, and he will modify
theories to facts, not facts to his

his

theories.

t

'
'

The

negi-OGS

who have been bred

in

the States, and whose fathers have been so
bred before them, differ both in colour and
form from their brothers who have been
bom and nurtured in Africa." (North
America, by Mr. A. Trollope, Chapter 5.)
Superficially we have all observed this.
And the value of the observation is the
greater because the author has no theory to
support, and apparently is not an anthroSous I'influence du contact de
pologist.
la race blanche (says M. Liais, L'Espace
Celeste, p. 217), et surtout par I'effect du
melange qui tend a s'operer, il se forme
une race de noirs beaucoup plus intelligeute
que celle des negres d'Afiique."
'

'

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

392

Brazilians,
pijDes

noi'

can

i)eculiarities

liis

He

and dollar-worship."

is

a

tall,

[chap, xxxviii.

be explained by " hot-air
lean, gaunt figure, which,

our popular long and lank D.
There is no want of the " intellectual baptism," innerQuixote.
The frame is sinewy and w^ell
vation, vulgarly called " blood."

when

represents

exaggerated,

it is straight as that of a Basque, not like the
and even labouring men do little to bend them
The neck is long, and the
like our round-shouldered peasantry.
larynx is prominent the thorax often wants depth. The hips
and pelvis are mostly narrow; the joints, waists,* and ancles, are
fine, and the legs are, as often happens amongst the Latin races,

formed
drill

for activity

:

sergeant's,

;

not proportioned in strength to the arms.

amongst the true Persians
advancing age, and
short,

square and

muscular,

is not,

it is

:

it

Obesity

rare, as

is

men

occasionally appears in

considered nullo curabilis Banting.

stout-built

of

The

Portuguese shape, osseous and

however, unfrequent. Amongst the offspring of

English parents I saw seven of the gaunt nervous temperament

and two of the John Bull.
Many of the women have plump and rounded forms, which run
Not a
to extremes in later life, becoming pulpy or anatomical.
few possess that fragile, daint}', and delicate beauty which all
The want of out-ofstrangers remark in the cities of the Union.
doors labour and exercise shows its effect in the Brazil as
The stm-dy German fraus
palpably as in the United States.
who land at Rio de Janeiro look like three American women
rolled into one.

how they

Travellers are fond of recording

women employed

see

and the
But
they
forget
that
in
modepopular.
sentiment is, I believe,
ration there is no labour more wholesome, none better calculated
to develop the form, or to produce stout and healthy progeny.
They should transfer the feeling to those employed in the factory
or the workshop.
The Mineiro's skin is of a warm dark brown, rarely lit up at
the cheeks, and often yellow from disturbed secretion of bile, or
from obstruction of the ducts, or from excess of choleic acid in
with a pang, guis and

in field work,

the sj'Stem, tinging the cutaneous blood vessels.

the tint of

Portuguese

had his home.

bark

strips,

where the

Ever}^ variet}' of hue, however,

—

It

is,

Moor
is

in fact,

so

long

found, from

209 10, tlie women of the coast " Pourys " wore
i.
round their wrists and ankles, "pour les rendre plus minces."

* According to Prince Max.,
strings, or

Algarves,

:

THE MINEIKO.

cuAr. XXXVI n.]

the

Here

black, are white

Europe to the leathery tint of
men, especially free men who are not

of Southern

buff colour

the mulatto.

393

;

nil

and often a man is officially white, but natuThis is directly opposed to the system

rally almost a negro.

of the United States, Avhere

all

men who

are not

unmixed white

are black.

The

skull is generall}' dolicocephalic,

than basilar

:

rarely

we

find

it

and

it

is

rather coronal

massive at the base or in the

the sides are somewhat flat, and the
head is rare as a talent for architecture or
mechanics. The cranium is rather the " cocoanut head " than the

region of the cerebellum

:

constructive

The

bull-head or the bullet-head.

colour of the hair

shades between chestnut and blue-black

;

red

is

rare

;

is

of all

when blonde

and wavy, or crisp and frizzly, it usually shows mixture of blood
also a
it seldom falls off, nor does it turn grey till late in life
peculiarity of the aborigines.*
With us the nervous temperament
is mostly known by thin silky hair
here we have the former
accompanied by a " mop." I have heard Englishmen in Brazil
declare that their bail" has gi'own thicker than it was at home f
so Turks in Abyssinia have complained to me that their children,
though born of European mothers, showed incipient signs of
wool they invariabty attributed it to the dryness of the climate.
Though hair in the Brazil is indeed an ornament to women, it
seldom grows to a length proportionate with its thickness. The
deep-set eyes are straight and well opened when not horizontally
placed there is a suspicion of Indian blood the iris is a dark
brown or black, and the cornea is a clear blue-white not dii-tybrown as in the negro. The eye-brows are seldom much arched,'
and sometimes they seem to be arched downwards the upper
The mouth is somewhat in
orbital region projects well forward.
the "circumflex-accent shai>e;" and the thin ascetic lips are
drawn down at the corners, as in the New England and the

—

:

:

—

:

:

—
:

*

The same

is

remarked

of the negro

Loth in the Brazil anil at home.

+ Some

attribute

Xoxo

the

improvement

to

Chocho, the oil extracted from the kernels of the Dende
the use of

palm-nut
yields

or

whose pericarp
palm oil of commerce). Tlie
pounded in a mortar ami ground

(Ela?is guineensis,

the

kernels are

between stones till reduced to a fine pulp
is then beaten up in a bowl with
:

the mass

hot water, and the oily matter is skimmed
surface.
off the
The Brazilians, before
using it, place the Xoxo in another bowl
with cold water, and expose it to the dew
for eight or ten nights, changing the water
daily.
I am surpri.sed that this article, so
much used in Africa, and so much prized
throughout the Trojucs, has not found its
way to England, where beargrease of mutton
suet still holds its own.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

394

fisthmatic sufferers in

England.

unusually liable to decay
thus the dentist

is

:

teeth, of

dead white, are

they require particular attention, and

Young men

an important person.*

sometimes lose their upper
mouth and young hau".

expression of the Mineiro's countenance

than that of the European.!

of twenty-

incisors, a curious contrast of old

five

The

The

[chap, xxxviii.

In his

gait,

is

more serious

the slouch of the boor

exchanged for the light springing step of the Tupy. Hence he
an ardent sportsman, and the " country squire " delights in
hunting parties, which extend from a week to two months. The
nomad instmct is still strong within him, and he is always ready
curiously enough, foreigners blame this propensity,
to travel
the
old proverb about the rolling stone.
All are riders
and quote
from their childhood, and, like the northern backwoodsmen, they
is

is

:

l^rcfer

the outstretched leg with only the toe-tip in the stiiTup

this they say saves fatigue in a long journey
sit

would be

seat

when

it falls.

and the liitched-up extremities of the Mongol

them equally unendurable.

to

:

moreover, as they

only by balance, they can easily leave the animal

Our hunting
all

;

It is to

the purely equestrian races ride either as

be observed that
if

squatting or

abhor what we call the juste milieu.
As rupture is almost unknoA\m where the leg is stretched out to
its length, I must attribute this accident, so common amongst our
standing up

and both

;

equall}'

and to carrjdng unnecesBedouin and the Aborigines of the
Brazil, the IMineiro is able to work hard upon a spare diet, but he
Avill make up manfully for an enforced fast. Self-reliant and confident, he plunges into the forest, and disdains to hive with others
and to cling in lines to the river-bank.
The race is long-lived, as is proved by the many authenticated
cases of centagenarianism.
Of the endemic diseases, the most
cavahy-men,
sary^

to tight belting the w^aist

weight.!

Like the

remarkable are lepros}' and goitre.

* In a

town

15,000 souls, I liave seen
one street.
As in Europe,

of

tliree dentists in

so in the Brazil, the best are those from
the United States it is painful to compare
with their light and durable articles, the
clumsy work of our coiintry i^ractitioners,
and sometimes even of tlie Londoner.
+ This is also an " Indian " peculiarity
all travellers mention the gravity of the Ked
Man's look ; and some have commented
;

;

vipon the acquired "moodiness" of the expression in the United States.
J I borrowed from the people a "wrinkle"
to advantage by
When the animal is required
our troopers.
to stand still, the rider, on dismounting,
passes the bridle over its head, and allows
Horses and
it to lie upon the ground.
mules easily learn to take the hint.

which might be adopted

THE MIXEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII.]

393

Leprosy, liere called morphea, and the patient morphetico, is
by no means so common in Minas as in S. Paulo, where it spares
no age, sex, or station. Yet the races are of kindred blood the
climates are similar, and the diet is the same.
Here it is comparatively rare amongst the higher classes, and as in India and
:

never seen a European affected by

Africa, I have

modification, elephantiasis.

it or by its
Various causes are assigned to the

origin of this plague, once common amongst us.'"- Some derive it
from the Morbus Gallicum; others from diet, especially from excess
of swine's flesh so in Malabar it is supposed to attack those who
mix fish and milk, which is held to be the extreme of bile-pro:

ducing

alimentation.

All agree that

commences with brown

attack

it

is

hereditary.

The

discolorations on the white skin,

and ends with mortification of the members, necrosis of the
Every drug has been applied to arrest its
progress even the bite of a rattlesnake has been tried.
In
certain stages it is held to be higlily contagious, and those suffering
from it usually separate from their families.
The leper-class in
the Brazil is dangerous, actively and passively.
We may remember that in France it was known as " ladre." It is evident
that in this Province, as in Sao Paulo, lazar houses are greatly

bones, and death.
;

required.
If Minas has less leprosy, she is more afflicted with goitre
"
than her neighbour. The disease in Portugal is called " Bocio
and " Papeira," in the Brazil " Papos," t and the patient
" Papudo." Pliny's assertion (ii. 37) " Guttur homini tantum et

suibus intumescit, aquarum qute petantur plerumque vitio," does

not hold good here.

Caldcleugh (ii., 258) saw goitered goats at
Mr. Walsh (ii., 63) declares that it attacks not only
men but also cattle, and that cows are often affected by it. I
have o-wned a dog with an incipient goitre, and have heard of its
Villa Pica.

appearing in poultry.

The

people, as usual, attribute

it

to the

and do Maciico are supposed
by the "agglutination of vegetable matter." Castelnau
observes that this morbid enlargement of the thyroid gland is

water

;

for instance, the rivers Jacare

to cause

it

* In A. D. 1101, Matilda, wife of Henry I.,
foundc<l the Lazar-liouse, now St. Giles.
lathe thirteenth century, France contained,

according
leprosaiies.

Dr. Sprcngel, deux mille
Possibly this European leprosy

to

now lie called by another name.
Upon the subject of the dread malady in
Siio Paulo, I shall have more to say when

v.ouI(l

treating of that Pro\'inco.
t Literally crops or maws.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BHAZIL.

S96

in " Itacolmnite" comitries

common

Europe, extend to great altitudes.
confined

aii",

does not, as in

pressure,""' or

It is believed to be hereditary.

much from

so prevalent, that

it

can hardly be exi)lained by

by deficiency of atmospheric

loads on the head.
suffered

but that

;

It

it,

no

by

carrj'ing

The Indians

and throughout the Mineiro highlands

gu'l,

has not her " papos."

xxxviii.

[cii.vr.

they jocosely say, can be married

It begins early in

it is

if

she

both sexes; children

in their teens have the rudiments of two or three protuberances

which, in time, will become like dented air-cushions fastened
round their necks. It is never arrested by surgical operations,
and the only popular cvu'e is salt, especially in the form of seabaths, which they declare absorb the swelling.
On the Rio das
Velhas it is almost general yet curious to say, on the Upper Sao
Francisco, after the junction of the two streams, it becomes
remarkably rare. Saline ground is wanting in the former, abundant in the latter valley, which seems to favour the vulgar idea.
In the Brazil I have never found cretinism to accompany goitre,
so far verifying M. Koeberle, who looks upon the two complaints
as distinct morbid conditions. INIr. Walsh, however, mentions one
;

case.f

Fecundity in this Empire
nature.

Were not

race would

is

the

norma

of animal as of vegetable

colonisation a present necessity, the

soon populate, with a

The Province

people, the vast regions that await inhabitants.

Sao Paulo

is

supposed to double her numbers in thirty

Avithout the assistance of immigrants. t

* I can hardly assert tliis positively
there are some arguments in favour of defective atmospheric pressure being one of
the causes.
:

+ Another

disea.?e which deserves menthe virulent form of psora called
Sarnas. ^Vhen ill-treated, and when driven
in, the consequences are always dangerous,

tion

is

human

comparatively homogeneous
of

3"ears

Girls marry as did our

and often fatal. It is ever difficult to cure,
and it cannot be eradicated from the system
without much more skill and perseverance
than what is now the rule.
In many parts
of the Brazil

it

is

as

common

as on the

Congo Kiver, where the Portuguese assert
no stranger can long escajie it.

+ Sr. Candido Mendez de Almeida gives the total population in the Brazil for 1868 as
11,030,000 souls, and Minas Geraes, 1,500,000.
The Senador Pompeo, upon this subject the highest authority in the Brazil, gives the following estimate

in

1866

of her population

:—
Savages.

140,000
5,000

—

—

;

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII.]

397

grandmothers, at fourteen, and bear children

late in life.

till

Unions between December of seventy and May of fifteen are
common,* and the result is a wife coeval with her grandchildren
by marriage. Connections of blood relations, such as uncle and
niece, are not rare
and, to the shame of the Catholic Church, it
still grants dispensations to commit incest for a consideration.
The results are not so teriible as in England, and especially in
New England yet throughout the Brazil the finest population is
alwa3's found in places which foreigners have most frequented.
The Mineira in her nurserj^ song assigns a patriotic cause to
;

;

her desire for issue
" Acalaula te 6 menino,

Donne ja para crescer,
Que
Brazil precisa filhos—
Independencia ou morrer.f "

Like her

sister in

New England and

philoprogenitiveness than amativeness

Scotch woman

like that of the

:

+

these,

;

and her

diet

.

....
....
....
....
....
....
....

Pernambuco
Alagoas
Sergipe

Bahia

.

.

.

Espirito Santo
Rio de Janeiro

.

.

•

.

.

.

.

Sao Paulo
Parana
Santa Catharina
S. Pedro

.

.

•

Totals

* Tlie liushand will

"Minha

.

.

Grand

wife as

.

.

.

.

Minas
Goyaz
Mate Grosso

.

Free.

aris-

may be

part

8,134,000

then address his
something very

filha,"

The wife rarely
ears.
her husband "husband :" she mostly
prefers a paraphrase, as Compadre, or
terrible to Asiatic
calls

primo

(cousin).

.

.

Savages.

Slaves.

525,000
210,000
250,000
1,000,000
250,000
220,000
1,100,000
50,000
750,000
750,000
80,000
125,000
340,000
1,150,000
135,000
40,000

total

spare

I have heard of aj^parently

fertility.

....

Ceara
Rio Grande de Norte
Parahyba

is

on the rule that rich

tocracies decrease while poor communities multipl}",

causes of her exceptional

more

Ireland, she shows

25,000
20,000
30,000
250,000
50,000
55,000
300,000
15,000
300,000
85,000
10,000
15,000
80,000
300,000
15,000
6,000

}

1,784,000

8,000

8,000

15,000
24,000

200,000

10,118,000

t Hush, my baby, lullaby,
Take thy sleep and quickly grow
Needeth children the Brazil
Independence or we

die.

t In Scotland 100 children are bom per
annum of 348 women to 386 in England.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

398

Tlie Mineira

well-authenticated cases of superfetation.*
excellent mother,

when

[chav. xxxviii.

superstition does not

is

an

smother nature

:

an "anjinho" or " innocente," a very 5'oung child, dies
The young
um-egretted, because its future happiness is certain.
they are young
are what we call "petted," or enfans terribles
gentlemen and ladies after the tliii-d year en revanche tln-ough

but

;

:

they preserve the greatest affection and respect for the

life,

mother, kissing her hand and asking her blessing every morning
and night. In no country do progenitors sacrifice themselves so

progeny I knew a father who studied algebra in
order to write an algebraic letter to his son. And nowhere are
children more grateful a lesson to that hateful being the " stern

much

to theii-

;

:

Such a custom as " administering the innoAs in all new countries, the
cents " is absolutely miknown.
" infantry " grow up almost wild, and infinitely prefer the
so in the United States, the traveller
fazenda to the town
first remarks the tameness of the horses and the wildness of the

parent of Europe."

;

children.!

The

Upper Ten

dress of the

is

purely European.

The Mineiro

has cast aside the picturesque old Iberian costume, which was

worn during the first quarter of the present century, the Spanish
sombrero, plumed and broad-flapped, the short-mantled and goldtrimmed coat, the doublet or jacket of flowered cotton, and the
large puffed breeches, with pink silk lining appearing tlu'ough the
slashes.

The

and though the

silvered horse -trai:)pings are
spui's

becoming obsolete,

with crown-piece rowels are retained, they

Morning-dress is unknown
are mostly made in England.
Brazilians will wear
throughout the prim-mannered Empii'e
black clothes in the morning. A gentlemen never aj^pears in the
:

street,

even at dawn, without chimne3"-pot

tile

(chapeo

alto),

black

and overalls black or white, cane or umbrella.
Travellers must follow the semi-barbarous custom, and dress in
On the
broadcloth behind a bush before they enter a house.
(Panama)
Guayaquil
Chile
or
road the Mineiro will allow himself a
coat, waistcoat,

* Not, however, tliat mentioiiecl by Mr.
^Valsh, a hoax perpetrated
my friend the Visconde de E

+

It

upon him by
.

was the same with the Tupys.

"He is very
the greatest praise to a child.
Tliis also is the case amongst the
socalled Kafir (Cafire) races
the more mis-

Amongst the Sea Dyaks,
wicked "

is

:

cliievous
X'ro^^d is

and boisterous the boy, the more
Pi-of. Dabney (Life
the father.

Jackson, p. 15) alludes to the " relaxation of parental restraints which usually
he might add,
prevails in new countries ;"
amongst the uncivilised as opposed to semiof

—

civilised races,

—
THE MINEIRO.

ciiAr. xxxviii.]

liat,

and huge

unblacked

The

forts.

loose-topped

leather,

399

generally

boots,

of lialf-tanned

which contain his slippers and other com-

linen, or rather cotton^ is scruiJiilously clean,* with a

propensity to starching and to dyeing sky-blue with indigo.

The

poor imitate the wealthy
but their garments are often homewoven and home-cut. The tailor "in partibus " charges about
;

double what Stultz ever did.

The

only relic of the national costume retained by the Mineira

seen only

is

black

lace falling

Pope,

when she goes

it

is

to mass.

It is

a mantilla of rich

trimmed with stout home-made
over the eyes
though lately patronised by H. H. the
not held strictly correct in cities and towns. I have

silk, satin,

or broadcloth,
;

alluded to the frequency of bathing, f

The

sex delights in flowers

and perfumes in the wildest parts pots of basil, pinks, geranium,
lavender, and sweet herbs are placed on troughs raised above the
reach of pigs and poultry. They have an amiable predilection
for diamonds and rich toilettes
a glance at a French milliner's
bill in the Brazil shows the necessity of repressing the taste.
At
public balls the sumptuary law rmis, "Ladies are politely requested to appear attii'ed with the utmost simplicity," and some:

:

times even the use of gloves

is

deprecated.

Section III.

THE MORAL MAN.
Perhaps the best general view of
given by the following

ofiicial list

this extensive subject

mil be
come

of crimes which have

before jm*ies of the Province diu'ing a period of ten years, t
* In tliis point diametrically oi)po.scd to
the Welsli, who are described as " scrui)ulously clean in everything but their persons."
f As a rule the Brazilian Indian in the
wild state bathes every day at dawn, and
afterwards whenever he i^'ishes to cool himself.

+ Many of these offences, it must be remembered, are committed by the servile
population, which, under the excitement of
the e.KiJccted emancipation, is peculiaidy
prone to acts of violence.
"The English
are soon coming to set us free," I have
heard said by negroes chattering at the
fountain.

"On

beaucoup de
de perseverance pour s'instruire dans les arts et dans les sciences
ils ont meme jiroduit des personnages distingufe."
So says Prince Max. (i. 113
114), quoting Blumenbach, Beytrage zur
Naturgeschichte (vol. i., p. 94).
I must
warn the reader against this vague assertion, which offers no manner of i^roof.
In
the days when those authors wi-ote, the
mulatto was confounded v/ith the negro
moreover, the noble African races, nainely,
those mixed with Semitic blood, and leavened for a course of ages by connections
with Southern Eiu-ope, were not distinguished from the pure African.
trouve

cliez Ics negi'es

disi^ositious et

:

;

400

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

Tahle slwuiwj the Ci imes committed in the Province of

PUBLIC CRIMES.

PRIVATE CRIMES.
1

Minus

Geraes,

[chap. XXXVIII.

from 1855

to

1864.

CHAP.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

402

[chap, xxxviit.

may

flatten noses and break ribs for 51. or a week of jail, they
must not touch watch or breast-pin, otherwise the Majesty of the
law will don its most terrible frown.
How is it, then, that in Minas I may say in the Brazil gene-

rally

—there

—

is

so

little

safety for

life,

which

is

so sedulously

protected ?

Amongst

the rich, mm-ders

come from three

poHtical questions, and "aifau's of the heart"

secondarily concerned in the matter
of the family is concerned, and

— especially

when only

land,

causes,

—a

member only
when the honom*
shot or a stab

a

The poor kill one another after quarabout land, gambling losses, love, and liquor
the cacha-

can set matters right.
rels

:

cada or drunken fray often ends in bloodshed. As a rule, all
males are armed revolvers and bowie-knives when in cities are
worn concealed; in the interior no one walks or rides abroad
:

without a gun or long pistol (garrocha), and the
his side.

Bloodshed

is

looked upon

Icnife

Avith little

never quits

horror

;

practi-

and respect for human life, which
distinguish the older social state of Europe.
The affectionate
diminutive "facadinha " means a knife-thrust, and " uma morte-

cally there is not that regard

zinlia "

(lit.

The moral

"a

little

death

") is

a mm'der, generally treacherous.

impossibility of carrying out capital punishments

of blotting out the criminal from the catalogue of livmg

men

—the

and the scanty dread of hard labour' with
the slave gang, are inducements to gratify revenge. Lastly, most
of these criminals are uneducated; and if the prison is to be
closed, the school, and in this phase of civilisation, the parish
clim-ch, must be opened and kept open.
Let us ever remember
with M. Quetelet (Sur I'Homme, ii. 325) " c'est la societe qui
prepare le crime, le coupable n'est que instrument qui I'execute."
*'
There goes my unfortunate self," exclaimed the good Fenelon,
when he saw a thief dragged to the gallows.
Some of the murders are scandalous. We read, for instance,
in the city of Lavras that A. B. having a quarrel with C. D.,
wounded him five times, assassinated the municipal guard E. F.,
lolled G. H., and severely injured I. K., who accompanied the
police magistrate to the spot.
Li 1866 an M.D., married to the
grand- daughter of the Baron of Pt. V., an inoffensive man, well
spoken of, mm-dered him in the public square of the Freguezia
tie S. Gonealo da Campanha.
In the same year a Dr. A. B.,
facility of

breaking

jail,

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP, xxxviii.]

403

riding with three friends in the vicinity of Pliihidelphia, was shot

dead from an ambuscade by C. B., who at once mounted his
When I approached the Paulo Affonso Eapids

horse and escaped.

my men

Avere discussing a mui'der which had taken place some
weeks before. In this case there was the usual negro, and
more than one woman. The Senhora Isidora Maria da Concei9ao
preferred the Senhor 'Ferino (Zepherino) da Cruz to her lawful
spouse, the Senhor Jose Telles de Menezes, and the pair agreed
" 'Ferino" enlisted the sympathies
to put him out of the way.
and assistance of his own wife, the Senhora Marianna Telles de

six

by

Barros,

telling her that the

against her.

The

"

He must

man

be slain

!

"

to

be Idlled had spoken

exclaimed the duped lady.

Brazilian Clytemnestra removed her husband's weapons, the

many wounds, cut off his tongue
Mohawks would have done, mutilated

party knived their victim with

and

ears, scalped

him

as

him, and tying heavy stones to the arms, threw the body into the
Eio de Sao Francisco. It was found a fortnight afterwards apparently fresh, tlu\y said, evidently with a turn towards a minor
mii-acle.
the reply was
I asked the cause of the mutilation
:

"para judearem," Jewishness. Here the Jewry still serves as a
sjaionym for all devihy.* The criminals are confined at Geremoaba in the Province of Bahia, some twenty-five leagues from
the Porto das Pii-anhas
efii'action

;

A jury will

posal.

;

it is

a country

fitted for

jail, j)eculiarly

moreover, any amount of perjury

is

at

dis-

tlieii"

be packed, and transit in rem judicatam

Avill

X)robably settle the matter.

On

hand the

the other

ratio of crime to population is triflmg,

and, as has been shown, the law-loving, or rather the kindly

though

fiery character of the

the police.

With such and

Mineu-o

is

shown by the

state of

so small a repressive force,

most

In 1866 England,
with a population of 20,000,000, yielded 19,188 criminal trials by
July, and 27,190 apprehensions for grave indictable oftences.
Nowhere is travellmg safer for foreigners who do not engage hi
politics, amours, or law suits. Theft is unknown where strangers
have not settled when I first descended the Pdbeira de Iguape in

European countries would be uninhabitable.

:

* So a man will often say " Jud^o-uos,"
he has jewcfl lis.
Jew is still used here in
a sense which is utterly obsolete amongst
the educated classes in Euroix;.
Had I a

Is none to which I
would belong more willingly than the
Jewish of course the white family,

choice of race, there

—

p u 2

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

404

[chap, xxxviil.

1866 my boxes were left open. In 1867, after a little AngloAmerican innnigration, the people had become adepts in the art
of picking and stealing, and every precaution had to be taken,
even against free men. Amongst the Tupy tribes larceny Avas
miknown, and in the interior of Minas it is still confined to
Yves D'Evreux informs us that " Mondaron," or thief,
slaves.
was the greatest insult addressed to an Indian, and that the
Avild women preferred being called Patakere (meretrix) than
Menondere.
The prevalence of intoxication surprised me. St. Hilaire
testifies to the fact that in his time a di'unken man was hardly
Gardner declared that, landing at Liverpool, he met
ever seen.
in a few days more men in liquor than he had found amongst
the Brazilians, black or white, during five years' travel.

Max. complains
travelling

Prince

of the vice on several occasions,* but he was

amongst the wretched

settlers of the

Maremma, on

the

eastern coast.

My
the

experience

In the Atlantic cities sobriety is
amongst the educated,! and the climate

as follows.

is

especially

rule,

But

hardly permits the abuse of stimulants to endure long.

in

the interior the vegetable diet, the fatal facility of obtaining

cheap and

efiicient

example of

exiles,

made

liquor,

who

the

want of excitement, and the

find in the bottle their best friend, has

the lower orders, like those ruled by the Maine Liquor

Law, a race of hard drinkers.
Old people have told me that

in tlieii' youth the remark which
capped the description of a rejirobate, a "perdido," was, ''and, it
The dipsomania of Northern races afforded
is said, he di-inlvs."
many a pleasantry now unfortunately obsolete. "
Inglez
"

bebado

—a

Um

drunken Englishman,

" they exclaimed.

"

"what

a

pleonasm!

what

Tem

sua baeta Inglez," he wears
his English baize (or "frieze trusty "), was equivalent to " falla

tautology
Inglez,"

* Vol.

!

—he

ii.

p. 364.

speaks English, in Portuguese

" Le

.sejoiir

de Villa-

ne convenait pas aiix Bi-esiliens
que j'avais pris pour m'accompagiier dans
les forets
ils etaient tons grands Imveurs
d'eau de vie, et avaient occasionne plusiciirs
dos-Illieos

;

scenes desagreables."
Vol. iii. 148.
"La
faineantise et un penchant immodere pour
les boissons fortes sont les traits di.stinctifs
du caractere dc ces hommcs " ^thc Vadio

Africa

meanmg

Also "Noits avous ^te souvent inivrognes, et nous avons
eu quelquefois beaucoup de peine a nous
debarrasserdeceshommes, qui nous genaient
singulierement.
f It is only in this sense that I can
understand Castelnau (i. 132), " L'ivrognerie est presque inconnu au Br&il."

class).

commodes par des

THE MTNEIRO.

CHAP. xxxvijT.]

"

lie's

The

drunk."

moral superiority.
as well as slaves,

405

Mineii-o can no longer boast of that pleasant
It is difficult to

who do not

engage attendants, freemen
if the " boss"

habitually exceed, and

show a bad example, the indulgence will pass all bounds. The
" Tropeiro " and the boatman will begin the day with a dram,
"para espantar
Diabo " to fright the Fiend.* There is a
second, "mata bicho " kill-worm, f which, as the old pleasantry

—

—

says, dieth not.
After breaking fast at 7 or 8 A.:\r., a thii'd,
with sober men, follows dinner, from noon to 2 p.m., and often

the night

spent by friends over a guitar (viola) and a garrafao

is

In a small

(demijohn) of Cachaca.

have seen

village,

after a fete-day, I

men

strewed on the road, and I have been
repeatedly warned never to engage a crew for shooting rapids on
five

or six

Like Orientals, few men
hard, and those
who avoid the vice are total abstainers which tells its own tale.
The consumption of ardent s^iii'lts exceeds, I believe, that of
the morning after a merry-making.

here drink temperately

;

those

who drink drink

—

Scotland.

Brazilians

who

are

scandalised by the

that disappear, declare that the raw

Government would do

well

to

rum

publish

is

quantities

The

used in baths.

the

statistics

of

the

and these could easily be collected, as most of the distilleries are taxed, and Cachaca pays an octroi on entering the
cities and towns.
Anthropologists ^dll remember the immense
quantities of whiskey drunk in the United States, and it is
curious to observe that the aborigines of the Brazil were extrasubject,

ordinarily addicted to intoxication.

De

Lery, the quaint old
" Qu'il ne
132)

chaplain of Villegagnon, says (Voyage, 130
soit

permis de

dii'e

arierre

—

:

Alemans, Flamans, Lansquenets, Suisses

et tous qui faites carbons et profession de boii-e, par de ca

tout ainsi

que vous-memes, apres avoir entendu

* H. S. M. is as much invoked as the
" Diawl " in Wales.
bicho," to
t The expression " Matar

the worm, is popidar in every PortaIts origin is thus explained.
guese colony.
In the early part of the eighteenth century
appeared a disease in Spain which made
many victims. The physicians called it
" mj-sterious, " till a certain Dr. Gustavo
Garcia, an old doctor who had retired from
practice, pi'oceeded to the autopsy of the
dead, and found in the intestines a small
womi still alive. He treated it with
the
alcohol, which at once destroyed it
kill

;

;

car

comme nos

medicos took the hint, and every patient
was at once dosed with a petit verre. From
Madrid the habit and the expression passed
to Portugal, and thence over the Portuguese
world.
Sr. Mendes de Faria, from whom
these lines are borrowed, remarks, " Uns
matam o bicho de manha, outros ao jantar,
muitos a noite, e a maior parte, em quanto
Ihes tinir

um

i-eal

na algibeira."

"Some

the worm in the morning, othei-s at
dinner time, many at night, and the majority as long as a coin rattles in their
pockets."
kill

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

406

[chap, xxxviii.

Aineriquains s'en acquittent, confesserez que vous n'y entendez
rien an prix cT'eux, aussi faut-il que vous leiu' cediez en cet
endi'oit."

The Mineiro,
Catholic.
centre,

like the Paulista, is a religious

Catholicism

is

man

here far removed from

its

and has undergone some notable changes.

but a lax
legitimate

At the same

time he has, like the Paulista, a certain horror of any one non-

He

Catholic.

how

is

rather superstitious than fanatic, but

may

easily the former

secuting element

is

not strong, although I have read the speech

of a Provincial Deput}',
Avho

pass into the latter phase.

who proposed

became a convert or a pervert

Many

to put to death a priest

to "Protestantism."

any one in these days builds a church
times.*

know
The perall

of the highly educated,

Hardly

—a wholesome sign of the
if

not the vulgar, advocate

upon this
was translated by an American misThe parishioners have little objection to a
sionary, Mr. Kidder.
Vigario who takes a \n£e and makes an honest man of himself.
the marriage of the clergy, and the Eegent Feijo wrote
subject a pamphlet, which

The

not favourable to chastity the race, especially
where the blood is mixed, is of inflammable material, and the
sayings and doings of slaves do not comport with earl}^ modesty.
climate

is

;

I need hardly say that the celibacy of the clergy is merely a

matter of discipline, preserved in this day because

it

is,

or is

supposed to be, agreeable to the spii'it of Christianity, and because
it certainly is highly advantageous to the Chm'ch.
On the other

hand the superior dignity of

virginity or steriht}^, either enforced

an idea revolting to reason and common sense,
especially in a young country-, where polygamy is morally justifior voluntary,

is

being more than counterbalanced by the benefits.
In Minas and in the Brazil generally, where the " sabbath " is

able, the evils

kei)t

more

strictly

than in France and Southern Em'ope, we no

* I have already alluded more than once
most imj)ortant subject let me here
quote my lamented friend, Mr. H. T.
Buckle (History of Civilisation, 2nd edit.
ii.
174), with whose enlightened views I
thoroughly agi-ee.
" It is certain that in the middle ages
there were, relatively to the population,
more chvu-ches than there are now, the
spiritual classes were far more numerous,
the proselytizing spirit far more eager, and
to this

there was a

:

much

stronger determination

to prevent purely scientific inferences

from

encroaching on ethical ones."
To this I would add, that there are
countries -where still lingers the gross
medieval sni^erstition, namely, that after
murdering a man, or beggaring a family,
the most graceful thing to do is to expend
part of the spoils in building a church and
in feeing a priest.
It is still one of the
besetting " idols "

—

and metaphysical

hyijotheses.

theological a.ssumptions

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII.]

407

longer find that abuse of fetes, holy days, and saints' days, which
of the Old

in parts

Nor

is

World

still

render useless half the month.

the unmeaning practice of fasting carried to excess.

confessional

is

The

not abused except by the professional devote, and

we seldom hear

of a

man who

has recom'se to his priest in

matters, trivial or important, secular or spii"itual.*

people

is ripe for

be an

*'

Of

rehgious reforms.

all

Briefly the

these the principal would

irreligieux edit * * * qui autorise tons les cultes," all

faiths should be permitted to build for theii* worsliip, temples, not

Civil marriages are allowed by law, a great advance
beyond certain of the "nebulous" Hispano-Ai-gentines, wdio,
dm'ing the last few months, rose in riot against the innovation.
But mixed marriages between Brazilians and foreigners must be

houses.

relieved of certain drawbacks, such as compelling the issue to be

brought up

m the belief of Rome.f

When

Some day

State cannot remain behind.

Church

the

yields, the

every immigrant citizen

be admitted to the highest posts under the government of
which he volunteers to become a subject
now he can be a
Senator but not a Deputy, that is to say, a colonel but not a
captain.
The Brazil will do well to consider the example of the
United States, wliich have risen to their present state of prosperity by thorough and unlimited toleration
not because they
will

;

:

are

near Europe or enjoy a

country, or can grant land
tages, to a greater extent,

b}'

fine

better than reading and heai-say entitled
me to expect they are sufficiently elevated
in point of education above their flocks ; if
;

"enlightened," they are far less
bigoted than the stranger ecclesiastics now
swarming to the Brazil and all, even their
enemies, bear witness to their obligingness

not so

;

I am glad to tind my
hospitality.
opinion supported by the testimony of so

and

Celeste, p. 220).

"II

M.

Liais

faut,

au

(L'Esi^ace
reste,

re-

connaitre que dans ce pays le clerge Catholique a des opinions plus liberales et moins
On I'a, en
ultramoutaines qu'en France.

believe, be

own

or

the square mile.

may, I

* I shall reserve for another volume
considerations on the j)resent state of the
As a rule
secular clergy in the Brazil.
they are grossly and unworthily abused by
foreign, especially by English Catholics, who,
as a rule, are Ultramontanes. My pei-sonal
ex]Derieuce has taught me that they are far

good an obsei-ver as

climate,

a wealthy

All these advan-

found in the Empke.

J'ai eu occasion, 3,
calomni^.
Olinda surtout, de voir souvent des pretres

general,
tres

recouiniandables

sons

tons

le.s

rap-

ports."

f It vnW here occur to many that -siithout an influential National Church an EmjDire can hardly be expected to last, and
that complete toleration belongs to a limited
Monarchy or a Republic. This is, I believe, true of the aristocratic form of Imin the democratic foi-m, where
perialism
the republic conceals itself under the mask
of sovereignty, it appears a solecism, an
Before 1S36, the Constituanachronism.
tion of North Carolina declared that "no
jjei-son who shall deny the being of God, or
the truth of the Protestant reU'jion (what
may that be ?), shall be capable of holding
any office or place of trust or profit." The
:

still
behind
therefore,
is
North Carolina was a generation ago.

Brazil,

what

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

40S

But they can never be

[chap, xxxviir.

tlu'own open to the workl until complete

equality in civil as in religious matters shall level all obstacles in

There must, I believe, be some modificathe path of progress.
tion in the Brazilian Constitution before the nation can cease to
be what the witty Frenchman termed it, *' un peuple prospectus."
The Mineira lives in the semi-seclusion sj'stem which crossed

was there increased by the dominion
of El Islam, which, on the other hand, borrowed some laxit}'
from Christian example. " Femme file et ne commande pas." In
none but the most civilised families do the mistress and daughters
of the house sit down to the table with the stranger amongst the
less educated the deshabille is too pronounced to admit of recepThis state of things
tion without an almost total toilette.
reminded me much of the Sjaian Cluistians, who will not change
their old system for the liberty, or, as they call it, the license of
Men protect their women in two ways. Either, as
Em'ope.
or, as we do, they
Orientals, they keep them out of temptation
expose them freely, but with the gaslight of publicity turned full
upon them. Again in Europe there are minor differences of
treatment.
In France and Italy, in fact among the Latin races
she may
generally, the girl must not leave her mother's side
the Atlantic from Iberia

;

it

;

;

;

hardly wallc out with her brother,
a chaperon

;

who

is

held to be inefficient as

i)rotection is

undidy

lax,

and "

flirtations

before marriage are not looked uj^on as offensive to society

those

who

In

but, once a wife, the surveillance is ended.*

England the maternal

;

"

thus

enter the " holy state " are anything but virginal in

In Canada the freedom is carried to excess, quite as
as in the United States, but in the latter women
are accompanied by the revolver and the bowie-knife.

mind.

much perhaps
As

in

tropical

countries general!}",

the

"awkward age"

of

long limbs and large extremities which immediately precedes the
beaute du diable

is

unknown

prettier than between thirteen

women.

Similarly there

breaking of the

voice

in Minas.

and

sixteen,

The girls are never
when they are little

no hobbledehoyhood and that hideous
which is aj^parently peculiar to the

is

temperates.
I believe the state of the family to be in Minas, as in the Brazil

I would not be uuderstoocl here to repeat the absurd and disgraceful calumnies
heaped upon French society in the beginning of the present century.

THE MINEIEO.

CHAP, xxxvTii.]

generally,

exceptit)nally pure

;

and

that, in

foreigners do the people a foul -uTong.
it

409

It

this

respect,

many

would be amusing,

if

did not provoke indignation, to hear a stranger, after a few

months' residence, Avho can hardly speak a connected sentence of
Portuguese, gravely supplement his want of experience by power
of fancy, and quote the injurious saving which seems to have run
from pole to pole, " Birds without song, flowers -^^ithout perfume,

men

women without honesty." Cities and
on a par as regards morality all the world
a nation must be judged by its village and countr}^ life. Here

without honour, and

large to\ras are mostly

over

;

a breach of virtue is almost impossible, opportunity is almost

"clmmbo na cabeca," or "faca no coracao"*
would certainly be the doom of the so-called " seducer." As in
the United States and not in Iberia, the penalty in the Brazil
This
falls upon the wrong person, the lover not the wife.
accords with the feeling in England, and, indeed, in most
northern nations. Our Com't of Divorce, if settling the case of
Potiphar versus Potiphar and Joseph, would not permit the corespondent to tell a tithe of the truth
he would, if unwise
enough to attempt the defence of fact, be called an unmanly
contemptible fellow by the judge, and he would go forth the
execrated of all England.
I may quote respecting the Mineira what the Countess Paula
von KoUonitz f has said of the Mexican spouse. " The bulwark
of relations by which a young wife is surrounded acts to a great
extent as a protection to her but, independently of that, I found
them nearly always retiring and rigid, even to prudishness, when
strangers were inclined to be presumptuous.
Their marriages
are really domestic and happy, married people are always seen
together, and the husband lavishes gifts on his wife, which is conI may add that the
sidered a special mark of attachment."
exemplary conduct of the Brazihan Avomen who have married
English husbands speaks loudly in praise of the sex generally.
Dutch Bernard de jMandeville, whose plans for diminishing
immorality in the limited sense of the term were so far before
his age that they exposed him to a Middlesex Grand Jury in
wholly wanting, and

;

:

—

—

* "Lead through the head
a knife in
"I have resided at small
the heart."
towns in the interior, where the habits, and
the general standard of morality of the inhabitants, were as pure as they are in
:

similar places in England."

The Naturalist

on the Amazons (vol. i. p. 43).
+ The Court of Mexico, Messrs. Saundei-s,

Otley

&

Co,

—

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

410

1723, asserted, to the scandal of

Hetfera class

is

''

proper persons," that the

numerous or few in exact

The

depravity of the family.

where the Agapemone

is

ratio to the pui'ity or

loosest places in

Em-ope are those

poorly kept up and frequented only by

The extreme

strangers.*

all

[chap, xxxvin.

prevalence of professional prostitution

towns of the Brazil, as described by travellers
before 1820, and which gave the proverb " mulher e cacha^a em
tudo lugar se aclia," has now disappeared.
Yet in the
" chapehies," which are frequented on Sundays and festivals by
the " sqmi'earchy," there will be three or four daughters of
in the country

Jerusalem, each making 150/.

i^er annum, here equivalent to 5001.
England; the money comes from the planters' sons, who in
Europe would apply to the wise woman or the cai*tomantiste
which is worse. And, as Cato knew, there is a great deal of
difference between public and private vice.

in

Poetical justice in the matter of the

Brazilian

b}'

Europe, which loves to

Hebrew is dealt out to the
him the " Jew of South

call

America," and the same has been said of the New Engiander.
Both races are essentially "smart," and "smartness," be it
observed,
rate

is

men

way eastward
and many have made

rapidly finding

of business,

a few years.

The " pobre

its

;

little

;

as a rule,

both produce

first-

colossal fortunes in

poor rich man, who lives like
24 per cent, is not
however, money is freely spent, and there is
rico," or

a beggar and lends his hoards at 15

unknown

t

—

of the grasping, tenacious covetousness vulgarly attributed

here to the Portuguese, amongst us to the Hebrew.

homage

is

paid to commerce

;

half the titled

been or are in trade, directly or indirectly

;

men

The

highest

in the land have

a planter's house is

not finished Avithout a shop on the ground-floor, and I have not
yet met a Fazendeu'o who would not sell liis estate, in whole or
in

i^art,

with slaves or without slaves.

St. Hilaii-e,

who had become almost

* At Hyderabad, in Sindli,

tlie l^reak wp
Moslem rule was followed by a
deluge of debauchery.
I well remember
that tlie dancing girls, in a pathetic me-

of rigid

morial to Sir Charles Napier, declared that
the man-ied women were "taking the
bread out of their mouths." We at once
learn what New York is by reading in the
Census of 1865, that the unmarried are
423,121 the professional prostitutes known
to the police, 3,000 ; and the total number
;

of

a Mineii'o, found a want

women wLo

live liy prostitution publicly

and

privately, 25,000.
polyandry of at least 17

Here we

liave

men

woman,

to 1

a

One of the most depraved cities which I
have seen numbered 200,000 soxils, and two
small " Agai^emones.

t An excellent paper might be -wTitten
upon the effect which Anglo-America is
exercising upon the English mind for good
and for evil the fonner palpably predomi;

nating.

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP, XXXVIII.]

411

when lie left Minas.* My experience
The Paulista, though reserved, is more

of cordiality

is

the reverse

of his.

at

home with

strangers

than his

cousin;

the

latter

may

be

described

as

" acanhado," which partially answers to our word '' shy." There
is a painful amount of ceremoniousness, which takes us back to
the primitive punctiliousness of Minho e Douro. Both Provinces
are equally hospitable, both dislike distance of manner, and both

—

French manner of address to the English as the
But on the road the
difference was a third of a century ago.
Paulista pulls off his hat, gives you a hearty good-morning, and
The Mineu'o eyed us hard
willingly answers every question.
before touching his tile, often his hand hung suspended between
saddle and head, childishly calculating whether the stranger
would or would not acknowledge the salute.
Sometimes he
stared at me surlily and angril}^, the women "made faces," and
the men returned a sharp answer, which forbade all hope of
This, however, was my misfortune.
intercourse.
The Paraguayan war made the people of the interior consider every
foreigner as an agent of government, or travelling for some dark
purpose.
In one place I became the Chief of Police, a
functionary who, as a rule, does not appear till some one is
"wanted," and who makes even the innocent take to the bush.
On the Bio de Sao Francisco I found mj'self President Lopez,
and I was never less than a " recruiting officer," a character
about as popular as the ganger in old AjTsliii'e when Robert
Bvu-ns sang, or as the bailiff in Connemara when governed by
Martm of Galway.
Moreover with increased numbers of
Em"opean visitors and settlers the Mineii'o has not learned
Familiarity
increased respect for foreigners, and no wonder.
prefer the

with such
exceptions

men

—I

hasten to say that there are

many

notable

— can breed only contempt.

Minas has produced the two parents of the Brazilian Epic, and
her sons have distinguished themselves in arts and arms throughout the Empire. The intellectual range of the Mineiro has mostly
been confined to the humanities. Modern science cannot be
acquii'ed in the Pro^dnce, mechanics are unknown, but the belleslettres are open to all.
Like the Neo-Latins generally, they
easily learn the cognate dialects, and their nimble but somewhat
* In II.

i.

chapter

2,

and elsewhere.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

412

desultory comprehension masters with

not

first is

easil}'

Paulista sj^eaks with his

and eats his words

xxxviii.

a ver}^ decided

The
mouth unduly ojien his is the Doric, the
The Mineiro closes his lips
of the Brazil.

sotaque or brogue, which at

North-country dialect

iiAr.

the various intro-

ease

They have

ductor}^ branches of mathematics.

[f

;

they

till

understood.

fail

to catch the strangers' ear

;

it is

Lancashire versus Northumberland.

This is doubtless derived
from old times, when there was great mixture of Indian blood.
St. Hilaire (III. ii. 107, and ii. 263) makes it a characteristic of
"Comme les diverses nations indiennes que
the Red-skins.
j

Cayapos parlent du gosier et de la
confirmed by all travellers, even from

'avals vues, jusqu'alors les

bouche fermee."

He

the earliest ages.

Prince Max.

INIenians, " lis

is

(iii.

166) says of the

coupent brusquement

la fin des

Camacans or

mots, parlent has

bouche a moitie ouverte."
unwilling to extend this Chapter by extracting from
official sources statistics of educational establishments and lists of
et la

I

am

scholars.

Throughout the Brazil these

paper than in the

flesh.

But the

details look better

subject

is

the greatest " thinkers " do not consider

highest attention.

man and
over it may

The

upon

never neglected, and
it

unworthy of their

school, " the mysterious laboratory where

Morein
except
man's
son,
be safely said that every poor
that
tlie
the remotest places, can obtain primary instruction,
tlu'ee E's are generally studied, and that those unable to read
and write do not number as many as in England and France.*
the

the child in collaboration prepare the future."

Moreover, the total darkness

still

found among the lower orders

in Europe, the utter absence of all knowledge, is here confined to
idiots.

Some

Provinces, like Parana, have shown their wisdom

* Tlu'oiigliout England, in 1S40, only 58
per cent, could sign their names in tlie
marriage registers.
In 1851 the popiilation rose to 62 per cent., and in 1864 to
72 per cent. What can be expected when
the State devoted to education the miserable
sum of £636,806 per annum, about equal
to what is annually wasted upon the Sentimental or West African squadron ? In
France, roughly speaking, one-third of the
population cannot read and write, and there
are 55 of the 89 Departments in which the
number of the illiterati ranges from 30 to
75 per cent.
In 1855 the proportion
generally was 39-92 per cent.
In 1864

percentage of men wlio were analpliabeticwas 27'88 that of women 41 "45, the
Of the
general average being 34 '66.
criminal cases tried in Minas during 1865,
read,
and
could
were
well
educated,
136
5
In
187 were analphabetic: total, 328.
1867, the respective numbers out of 290
were 1, 116, and 173.
I am hardly astonished to see the late
We have it from the
Dr. Knox assert,
tlic

:

'

'

latest travellei'S, that the

ignorance of the

so-called (?) Brazilian is something astound-

ing."

(Ethnological Inquii'ies and Observa-

tions, Anthi'opological
p.

2521

Review, Aug. 1863,

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII. ]

413

and this, I believe, will
soon extend throughout the Empu-e. At present the fault is
rather with the seniors than with the juniors, and parents have
not had time to learn what education means.
Books and magazines being still rare and expensive, the newsin compelling children to attend school

paper

is

;

pabulum throughout Minas. In
dawn the master or his men may be seen
foreigners call it
over the periodicals. As the

the staple of literary

every shop from early

wasting time

—

—

United States, so the Brazilian finds amply sufiicient enjopnent in a glass of water, here not iced, and a cigar,
there a quid or chaw, accompanied by a newspaper.
I may here
venture to suggest a remarkable similarity between the highest
forms of European society and that of the Empire and the
Western Bepubhc. What man of the world, especially what
woman in Paris, ever reads anything but a newspaper or a
magazine ? Who in London life has time to turn over a page
beyond the dailies, weeldies, and monthlies ?
In how many
countr^'-houses are the books upon the tables and on the shelves
never touched by any one except the duster ?
The reason is that the newspaper is progression, it is the literature of the Future.
As Lamartine informed the French
Chambers, it will, before the centmy ends, embrace all hiunan
thought, and become the word of man. When journalism shall
be infinitely extended b}- machinery, and submit every day to the
public eye every question treated in the fullest maimer, the octavo
must take the form of the broad sheet. As an old ex-editor I
cannot agree with M. Emile de Girardin, " rather one day of
office than ten years of journaHsm"
nor has he worked out his
citizen of the

—

aspu'ations.

The

esjiecial

gior}-

rescuing education,

of the nineteenth

learning,

century

is

enlightenment, from

that

it

is

the profes-

and sending it
sionally savans and the Ui)per Ten Thousand
abroad as a gospel to mankind. iVnd this will ever distinguish it
Thus, in the beginning of man's religious life, the
as an era.
Lawgiver of the Hebrews took from the Egyptian priests, who
;

had

veiled

it

be, lost to

At

in the deepest obscurity of faith

One God, which has never
the human mind.

idea of the

and

practice, the

been, and which can never

the end of the last generation, Gardner found at

Ouro Preto

a couple of printing offices and four newspapers in small folio

:

"

THE HIGHLANDS OP THE BRAZIL.

414

LfHAP, xxxviii.

two of these were ministerial, and the " balance" was opposition;
both were wholly political. Now increased communication with
the metropoKs has reduced the typographies to one, the " Typodo Minas Geraes ;" * the periodicals to two; this is also
an evidence of subsiding popular excitement. The " Constitugrajdiia

is Conservative
it appears once a week, generally on
Sunday, and the editors are Dr. Camillo da Cunha Figueiredo,

cional"

;

B.A., and Dr. Benjamin Eodrigues Pereira.
The " Diario de
Minas," a daily (dating from Januar}^ 1, 1868), as the name denotes,
is

edited by a Liberal,

party has

D. Joao Francisco de Paulo Castro, whose

now long been

in power.

It is in the usual style of the

Brazilian country papers, a single sheet, four columned, twent}-eiglit

inches

x

fifteen.

There

is

a leading article, which, like

that of the "Eatanswill Gazette," utterly smashes the opposition

and the

rival.

News and correspondence from Europe and from
when

the other Imperial provinces follow the arrival of the post

the Legislative Assemblj'

is sitting,

;

the Official Part contains the

and there is generally something about
and probably well salaried, it can
afford to be calmer and to show more temper than the Conservative.
Here, as elsewhere, the tone of the newspaper is the
expression of society. Allusions to kicking and horsewliipping,
scandalous personalities and violent language, are not unknoAvn to
Brazilian jomiialism but they are generally reprobated, and will
presently meet the fate of the " Satii-ist ;" and even now the tallc
is rarely taller than what we find in an Irish article upon some
subject of ephemeral interest.
I have never seen anything to be
compared with the " Bombay Times," under Dr. Beust the
"blatant beast" of the "Devil's Brother," or of a certain
London magazine which devoted itself during its slioii life to
si)eeches fairly reported,

price current.

Bemg

in power,

;

—

Oriental subjects.

To

a traveller, the most characteristic part of a newspaper is,
its advertisements.
He takes up the " Constitucional,"

perhaps,
there

is

a

"mudanca de nome," some man changing name simply

* In this is a " Corciincla " (High-Tory)
named Luiz Maria de Silva Pinto, who,

being aged 8G or 87, well remembers the
events of 1789.
He always speaks with
gi-eat respect of the Royal clemency to the
authors of Brazilian indeijendence.
I have
remarked Southey's prepossessions in favoiar
of a country which converted the Brazil

into an agricultural

ment.

and mining

establish-

Curious to say, a Brazilian General,
J. I. de Abreu Lima (Compendio, Chapter
contemptuously of her
5, s. 6), speaks
" Asgi-eat movement, the luconfidencia.
sim se mallogrou o insensato projecto de
uma sociedade que mantinha no iiroprio
scio o gcnnen de s\ia destruiyao.

THE MINEIRO.

CHAP. XXXVIII.]

415

A. B. C. D. de E. publicly returns general
thanks to those who received hiiu hospitably during his last
journey a graceful practice. The- relations and friends of the
deceased Sr. Fulano de Tal are invited to meet at a solemn
to avoid confusion.

—

requiem mass, celebrated for the repose of liis soul, and they will
be there this is headed Avith a profile sketch of a tomb, bearing
the inscription morte, overhung by a widow in a poke-bonnet, and
:

with the orphan sitting disconsolate upon the ground.

"

Fugido
in
full-length
letters,
50
figures,
$000
and an
in the largest
anthropoid with a bundle over his shoulder and a switch in his
hand, show that a chattel has "made tracks" and is wanted. A
cardboard house and two unvegetable-lilve trees denote a'^chacara," a " sitio," or a toA\ai-residence for sale. A piano, a few books,
'*

some musical pieces, gloves, boots, lottery-tickets, and stationer}'
recommended to the public. But the mass of the two pages
Under the titles of " the Lame
is filled with patent medicines.
are

AValk," and the " Battle of Life," salsaparilla of Bristol modestl}'
disguises

itself.

The quina

disdain such pretences.

of Laroche and Blancard's pills, Szc,

And

that Great Britain

may be

ade-

quately represented, the wonder-working unguento and pildoras
(Spanish),

Holloway

or pilulas

(Portuguese)

— "bother

spraAvl barefaced over at least

" a Pedido

" denotes the

the pills"

— of

two columns.

communique. This correspondence is generally sent unsigned or footed by a fancy or a real
name, popularly known as the " testa de ferro :" he bears blame
for a consideration.
It is the most rabid, if not the only rabid,
Finally,

part of the issue.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
EETUEN TO MORRO VELHO.
morma90
Causava agudas dCires de Cabega,
Porqiie
clima nao c do ameno Campo

Do

aurifero paiz

chamado
Jose

We

had given

all

JIuias.

Joaquhn Corrca de Almeida.

possible time to the interesting capital, and

I was becoming anxious to reach the llio de Siio Francisco before

the rains set in.

Our return

to

Morro Velho would cover

only-

twelve short leagues, but as the country was new, two days were

The

from Ouro Preto is via the Caminho da
church '' Sr. Bom Jesus de
The day was heavy
Matosinhos," we struck the open country.
with warm heat,* and a thick blue haze softened the rugged
From that point the range began
profile of the Itacolumi chain.
the
soon
romantic
peak looked like a fragment of
to fade, and
mist,
upon
long,
light, azure c-loud.
slanting
based
a
After two hours we reached the Ranch of Jose Henriques, a
little " povoado," where the road forks to N"* S* da Nazareth
da Cachoeira do Campo, whose name has already occurred. We
took the right, or eastern path, and exchanged the Valley of the
Eio Doce for that of the Pio das Yelhas. " Esbarrancados,"
huger than usual, pitted the slopes of the divide, and we crossed
a narrow natural isthmus between the yawning water-breaches,
Avhose sides Avere zoned with the usual rainbow tints, wliilst a
thick shrubbery clothed the soles.
Thence the j^ath led down a
minor eastern head-water of the " Old Squaws." The water was
muddy, Avith up-stream washings, and ran in a bed of piiik sand
and clay, dotted with Avhite quartz a kind of fanc}" rivulet.
devoted to

it.

exit

Cachoeira, and after passing the

—

From

afar

we had sighted the Arraial
*

Here

called Moruia90,

of S'° Antonio

da

RETURN TO iMORRO VELHO.

CHAP, xxxix.]

4l7

Casa Branca and its white eliureli, perched upon a hill but it
was two hours before we reached it, and were able to rest for half
an hour on the steps of a kind of ranch. Dr. Couto says of this
place, that it had flourished before 1801, but that a stone chapel
was all that it had to show for its gold. The industries are now
agriculture and cattle-breeding. Two instances of longevit}^ were
here quoted
one a " lavrador," or small proprietor, still robust,
though 100 3'ears old and the other, ten j-ears senior to him,
was Genoveva Pereira Bastos, a sage femme, experienced in the
profession her grand-great-grand and great-great-grandchildren
(teternetos) amounted to 120.
After passing the old chapel, we came upon a hilly countr}-, of
ver}' mean soil, with a road neither good nor bad.
Presently we
crossed two contiguous bridges over the true head-waters of the
llio das Yelhas.
The muddy and deeply-bedded stream, forty
feet broad, swMed grimly round a holm, upon which there was a
house.
It drains the narrow sack formed b}^ the Serra do Capanema,* by the Serra do Ouro Preto to the south, and to the east
b}' the Serra de Sao Bartholomeu.
Thence we ascended a long hill, and found clouds drifting
heavily from the north-west. The dull heat was now dispersed by
raw wind, and rain came on, with a succession of storms which
lasted uninterruptedly for thirty-six hours, making the clay greasy
as tallow. To the right, and below us, lay the little village of Sao
Vicente, with its two-towered cliurch, some miners' quarters, and
the "Casa Grande" of notable size, showing that an English
Company has dropped its money there. From the green hills
behind it a fine head of water, tumbling white, could be seen
through the thick falling drops.
The " Morro de S. A^icente estate" belonged to D. Rosa, the
widow of an English mechanic. About 1864, when the Sahara
diggings, of which more presently, failed, it was bought b}^ the
" East Del lley Company" at an expense of £36,000.
Of this
of
Some
owner.
total two sums, ^£14,000 and .£1700, reached the
are
not
the shares have not been paid up, and the sliareholders
;

:

;

—

registered.

The

dip of the lode

is

28°,

and the

* There is also a village of tlli^^ uamo
derived from an old Brazilian family.
A
certain Manoel da Costa Capanema is found

VuL.

I.

strilve is

east to west.

The

" Inconfidentcs " he was
a shoemaker and was i^ronounced innocent,

in the list of the

:

£ S

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

418

[cii-ir.

xxxix.

crj'stal and quartz, and the
sometimes partially crystallized, and affording pretty cabinet specimens. The metal is found in " eyes," or
rather in shoots running diagonally across the formation. It was
first worked on the " open-cut " system, and aftenvards by shafting.
The stone is stamped and straked, and amalgamation is not used.

vein here and there runs between
latter gives free gold,

Failm-e

is

actual state.

its

Sm'face works have been heavy,

whilst machinery and other underground appliances have been

mine interrupted the pmnping.
banker of Falmouth, " a great anti-slavery man,"
determined to astonish and gratify the world by showing the
grand residts of free black labour. It reminds one of the merchant who, to cure sailors of theii- superstition, built and lost the
ship *' Friday."
The issue, as might be expected, was pure
light

;

and the

falling-in of the

A philantln'opic

perte, and the projector, disgusted with his project, soon disposed of liis shares. They report that a new company is to be
formed in England, and that Sao Vicente will again be put upon
little lode may pay if worked safely, that is to say,
and economicall}'.
We rode through rain striking upon our faces, and, as evening
was gathering in, we entered by a long descent the " Arraialito,"
known as the Rio das Pedras. The single street showed to the
east the Rosario Cluu'ch, and westward the half-built Capella de
N'* S* de Concei9rio. There are also two smaller chapels; in fiict,
the chm-ches are almost as numerous and far exceed in cubic
contents the dweUing-houses a pleasant aspect to the ecclesiastic,
and an ej'e-sore to the economist.
We had sent on our Camarada, Joaquim Borges, to order
dinner and beds lucidly. At the door of the pigmy hostehy we
caught sight of an elderly citizen in a hammer-claw, or swallowtail black coat, and we found a party of Southerner mimigrants
wandering about in search of land. The leader was a Mississippi
man, accompanied by two daughters and one son-in-law, two
companions from the same State, and a Georgian avIio was hailing back for the Plate River, despite Indians, Gauchos, and other
little difiiculties.
Mostly these strangers had been accustomed
to the flats of Florida and the plains on the bank of the Yazoo
River.
None of them came from the Midland States, where men
raise cereals and cotton
at present, perhaps, the most important
and certainly the safest industry in the Brazil.

his trial.

The

scientifically

—

:

—

RETURN TO MORRO VELHO,

CHAP. XXXIX,]

I

had

were not

ali-eady

my

met

several parties of these refugees,

The

hist experience.

Transathmtic cousins

—

419

—spealdng

fu'st

and they

impression made by our

only of the farmer and

little

In them the bristly
Their
individuality of the Briton appears to have grown rank.
ideas of persons and things are rigid as if cast in ii'on
they are
educated class

is

peculiar and unpleasant.

;

untaught,

Each one thinks

but read}- to teach every tiling.*

purely and solely of

self,

from the smallest acts and

offices of life,

such as entering a room or sitting down at meals, to the imporAll have eyes
tant matter of buying land or of finding a home.
steadily fixed
is

upon the main chance
provided that

allowable,

succeeds

it

Amongst themselves

and there

;

moment

except of blood, to prevent at any
pieces.

"
every dodge to " get on

;

there

is

is

no

tie,

the party falling to

no geniality

;

of strangers

they are suspicious in the extreme, and they defraud themselves
rather than run the risk of

bemg

Nothing appears to
them might have been done a

defrauded.

them whatever is done
" heap deal better." As the phrase

satisfy

for

;

is,

they expect roast pig to

run before them, and even then they Avould grumble because the
crittur was not properly fixed for them.
This is not an agreeable account of the pioneers now leading
Yet we prethe great Anglo-American movement in the Brazil.
sentl}' find out that these are the men wanted b}' the Empu'e to
teach practical mechanical knowledge, to create connnunications,
and to leaven her population with rugged northern cnerg}'. Bred
in a sub-tropical country, seasoned to fevers, and -accustomed to
employ negroes, they will find the Mediterranean Brazil an improved edition of theii- old homes. Notliiug is to be said against
the German in tliis country, except that he is too fond of farman "imperiumin
ing, as he often did in the United States

—

imperio

;

" moreover,

political ideas

his

are apt to be in ex-

comes out empty,
The Englishman,
as the old saying is, and goes back full.
except under Morro Velho discipline, languishes and di'inks. As
tremes.

The Frenchman,

regards bodily labour, he

man

prefers great cities.

like the Portuguese,

is

inferior to the negro.

The

The Scotch-

Irislnnan has Ijeen hitherto found

unmanageable, but under the Anglo-American, who Imows so
* One of them, ami pcrliaii.s the Ijcst
educated, had heard of Haiinilial and the
vinegar which split the Alps.
I heard
him recomnieud the plan to a Portuguese,

ami reiuembci- the face

of tlio hitter aftoi-

the triah In this part of the «orkl vinegar
is nearly as dear as wine,

H B 2

—

— —

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

420

[chap, xxxix.

and manage him, lie will be a valuable hand, the
the
working power of the country.
and
muscle
not to admire the jduck and spirit of these
impossible
It was
Everything was new and strange to them, they saw
pilgrims.
what they did not understand, thej^ heard what they could not
comprehend it was quite indiiferent to them. They mounted
they wandered about at night they slept
their "^^^letclled nags
in the Avoods heedless of Maroons and " tigers," and they were
brought in by the negroes to the planters' houses, wluch they
in fact, they became a standing marvel
often mistook for hotels

well to drive

—

;

;

—

An

to the land.

old man, with a foot and a half in the grave,

unaccompanied by a servant, and riding not as the Rechabim
rode, a garron, like the steeds of Agincomi, carrying a carpetbag and a paper of bread, but without even a blanket, actually
set out to descend the Siio Francisco River, cross to the head
He had
waters of the Tocantins, and float doAvn to the Amazons.
been wandering ujiwards of a year in the Brazil he had not
learned a sentence of Portuguese, and probably he never could.
Like the British sailor, he instinctively determined that those
who cannot understand good English will be better suited with it
broken, " Me no sabby, vie no carey, mc very peculiar Die
no drink wine vinho mc no drink coffee caffe me no drink
spirits."
This, aided by the presence of a mighty quid, was
intended to enlighten the dullest understanding. His account of
meeting in the backwoods with an Enghsh-speaking youth had
The latter pulled up his galloping nag, stared at
its comic side.
:

—

—
—

—

the solitary figure dressed in a kind of winter greatcoat, collaring

him

to the head and skirting him to the heels
at the crumpledup trousers at the under-drawers, forming a " lucid interval;"
and at the miblacked boots, with toes well turned out. Presently
he found presence of mind enough to exclaim,
;

;

*'Wlio theh— areyou?"
" Guess," replied the senior, "that tJiat don't concern ycon.'^
"
" Where the d
are you going ?
" Wal," was the rejoinder, " s'pose it don't much matter to yeou.'^
" What are 3'ou doing, then ? "

—

" 'Calc'late, young man, that you had better move off that way,
this way," suiting the action to the word, and thus they

and I go
parted.

He

offered to

accompany me, but

I could not bring myself to

—

—
RETURN TO MORRO VELHO.

CHAP. XXXIX.]

saj' yes.

Hunger and

thirst, fatigue

and

vigil,

421

are all endurable,

not so the bore.
Garrulus hunc quando consumet cunque

;

loquens

Si sapiat, vitet

This venerable egotist was candid enough to declare that he
wanted my conii)any as an interpreter. At every five minutes he
would interrupt conversation with " Tell him so and so," or
"Ask him this and that." He wanted me to sell his garron, to
threaten that it should be turned loose upon the world if it could
not fetch its price, to " swap " it for a canoe. Male salsus, I
translated him literallv, and the expression of the Brazilian countenance, with a painful tendency to a guffaw^
a " gargalhada"
which civility forbade, was a study. At the age of sixty-two he
seemed to have outlived all sense of gratitude, and to say a good

—

word of any one would, I believe, have killed him.
This Southerner emigration will be, to a certain extent, a natural
selection from the United States, even as the population of the
What I mean is,
latter is a selection of species from Europe.
that, whereas the old, the sick, and the feeble in mind and body
remain at home the young, the brave, and the adventurous,
even the malcontent, the criminal, and the malefactor go forth in
search of fortune, and find it.
;

The population

of the Brazil, a land wdiose extent

is

equal to

the United States, and whose natural advantages are far superior,

but little in excess of what the Republic could show in 1820
somewhat over ten millions, including negroes and " Red-skins."
About that time began the great squatter movement to the south
and west of the Mississippi Valley, which so wonderfully increased Em-opean immigration. The new comers found miserable
little settlements of straggling " shanties," occupied by a few
hundred mongrels, mulattos and mixed breeds, French and
is

Spaniards, Avith the savage at their doors.

was

St. Louis,

wealthy

city,

Mo.

In

Such, for instance,

than half a century

less

it is

with a magnificent future awaiting her.

the earliest immigrants returned from the Valley.

disgusted with the wild

life

;

did not like the vicinity of the

strong

men

a vast

and

Many

of

They were

they wanted " comforts," and they
tomahawk and the fever. But the

remained, and before 18G0 they had attracted a

population sufficient for an empii'e.

—
THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

422

And

thus

it will

[chap, xxxix.

Thus only can she expect
drama of Human Progress.
through the wind and rain.

be with the Brazil.

to play a conspicuous pai-t in the great

On the next day we set out early
In the afternoon we reached Morro Yellio, where the heartiest
welcome awaited us. We felt almost spoony enough to quote
the spoony lines
Home

!

there

is

magic in that

little

word,

It is a mystic circle that surrounds

Pleasures and comfoi-ts never
Its

hallowed limits.

known beyond

—

;

CHAPTER

XL.

TO sabarA,
Kennst du cTas Land wo die citronem blillm
Im duukeln Laub die Golil-Oraugen gliiUu ?
Qobtla

After another comfortable

fortnight at

pared to embark from Sahara.

—

]\Ir.

Moito

Vellio, I pre-

L'pool had noAV made his

book, and was Deo gratias en route ^to the coast. With a
pecuHar cat-like feeling I bade adieu to the Casa Grande, where
we had found an English home in tlie Highlands of the Brazil.
My excellent compatriots, however, accompanied me to break
the shock of departure.
The day was Tuesday, the weather
rainy

—auspicious

both

— and

I looked forward to being one of

the pioneers of a great national movement.

We

crossed the Eibeirao, and ascended the northern, or " Old

by the "Mine Road," past features now familiar; we
ducked heads to the pump -lift, and we glanced at the grist
Hill,"

M.

or flouring-mill.

Miiller,

who has

charge, takes great pride

in its superiority to all others in the Province but one.

On

the

were the villages of " Boa Vista" and " Timbuctoo," hollow
squares, in shape much resembling the " T'hembe " of Unyam-

left

and easily convertible into fortified posts, whose low, white
The interior
walls and heavy tiled roofs would give trouble.
The married have separate houses
is divided into courts.
the unmarried are divided into gangs of fifteen or twenty,
according to the size of the quarters, and the place set off for
Avezi,

the gu-ls
pline,

is

called

I presume

—from the utter absence of conventual
are
—the " Convent." These
villages

the surveillance of four black captains,
as well as by day

;

who

are

disci-

under

on duty by night

they must exert themselves hard to ensure

anything of cleanliness, and some of the slaves are incorrigibl}'
swmish. All is perfect Inner African within the quarters the
:

THE HIGHLANDS OF

424

[cum:

xl.

burns on the hearth at midday, and each door has its
upon which the inmates sit and smoke

little fire

tall

THP: BRAZIL.

steps of rugged stone,

and sun themselves.
Turning to the left we struck " Smyth's Eoad," which rounds
Westward, and distant about two
the hill in a civilised style.
miles, is the Convalescent Station, "
for sick blacks, put

Campo

up by themselves.

" prairie," but the hilly grounds

Alegre," a ranclio

It has not a vestige of

abundance

sujiply in

coffee,

Beyond it
vegetables, and firewood.
winding over the hills, and in front of us rises the goatee
' Morro do Curral d'El-Rei."
The " Cm'ral " is the southernmost apex of a chain which

we see the Paraopeba road

divides the Paraopeba and

Upper Sao Francisco from

of the Rio das Vellias.

Its general

west, and

it

extends about

direction is

or 180 miles

3°,

the course

north-north-

the various names,

;

beginning from the south of the range, are Serra do Salto, Serra

Beyond the
da Sella Ginete, and Serra do Espii-itu Santo.
confluence of the Rivers Sao Francisco and das Velhas it
prolongs

itself

by the Serra do Jenipapo and Serra do Itacoit meets the Serra da Mata da Corda coming

lumi, after which

from the south-west.

The Curral

is

curiously weathered into

cliffs

and jags* of the

It is a Proteus, here

usual volcanic shape, covered with green.

a quoin, and there
knob-shaped
it will remain visible for many a mile, and we
It appears to me the northern
shall see it even from the river.

looking like a regular pyramid, there like
;

limit of the hilly metalliferous, especially the great pyritic, for-

and beyond

mations,
soils,

it

begin the

demand

A

further investigation.

miles northwards, and distant

view ennobled by physical

immense

cultivable

however, will

this,

cross, hence two
by the road, gives a

ride to the

five

size.

and more
;

to six

The

soil

is

poor,

but the

Peak causes it to
Towards the south we see nothing but

quantit}' of rain caught b}' the cold

be tolerably clothed.
hills

flatter

especially the great limestone fields

and hollows, suggesting the old simile of a raging sea

suddenly turned to earth

Below us

horizon.

;

here there

farm, where a patch of water

* Serrote

is

the native

is

nothing level but the
-

are the Bananal tanks and leats, and a mule-

name

is

mistaken for a house.

of this minoi- feature

:

it

Nearer

properly means a handsaw.

CHAP,

TO SABAPvA.

xt,.]

425

the Taquaiil, a deserted gold-mming estate now in process of
" rehabilitation."
It lies very high up, and I should imagine

is

expense of water-supply would be enormous.
Just
below the cross is " Mocambo,"* a good bit of land. Northward
the rises and falls are those of a more tranquil ocean, and the
that the

smooth green valley of
and

C'urral

It is

fires.

clear

day

;

d'El-Rei shows a Httle wliite

who number some 359
one of the seven churches which can be seen on a
cattle-breeders,

village of cultivators

the

otliers

are

S.

Sebastiao,

Fidalgo, Contagem,

Capella Nova, Matosinhos, and Jaguara, to wliich some add an
eighth, S^^ Luzia.
It is

difficult to

stiff cla}'.

is

up and down of

cart roads over this

Even our mules do not

and the pace

feet,

make

find

three miles an hour.

it

keep their
round a hill-side,

eas}' to

We

and sight for the first time Sahara, distant over eight miles.
This is one of those amene and charming prospects which so
often burst upon the Brazilian traveller's e^'e and form such a
relief after the general cachet of uniformity and monotony which
Solitude and Nature unrelieved by Art affix to its magnificence.
Like most of these places, it is faii'est seen from afar, when
irregularity adds to its beauty.

The

large i)atch of milk-white

and red-roofed houses, with quintals, at once " compounds,"
gardens and orchards, rich with the deep, green verdure of the
orange and the m^Ttle, set oft' by the lighter banana, lies upon
a sloping bank in a kind of "Doab," or "Eincon," Avhere two
streams form an angle. Its majestic background is the celebrated
Serra daPiedade,! a huge lump, generall}^ capped by thick clouds.

To

the east this stone-stripped wall bristles with organs

or

and we could not but observe its resemblance to the
We were to enjoy
metalliferous Serras of S. Jotio and S. Jose.
it began by weeping over
its imposing presence for some days
needles,

;

us a heav)' shower, even as the Brazilian aborigines shed bitter

when they meet a friend.
The land of hard yellow clay

tears

the bottoms are

Avell

is

poorly clad

wooded and would grow

* Tliis word means a stronghold of criminals and maroons.
Constancio makes it
synonjTnous wth Quilombo.
Koster alludes to the Mocambo, 2, xix.
+ Curious to say, M. Gerber (:Map, 1862)

;

but, as usual,

cotton.

There are

has placed the Piedade south-west instead
of north-east of Morro Velho, and has left a
white space on the north of " Cuiaba. " AI.
Burmeister's map gives it coiTCctly.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL

426

extensive dchrls of "Pisarra,"* a

Brazil to
limonite,

many

and

*'

folha larga;"

it

the

The

killas."

clothing

the usual Cerrado of Barbatimao, wild guava

is

and the shorter growth

(Saccliarum Sape) and ferns.
the road

name given throughout

different formations, laminated yellow argile, or

decomposed rock, and imperfect "

of the uplands

[cuap. xl.

is of tall Sape
Congonlia tea abounds, but near

has been torn up by the muleteers.

—

The

—

clearings,

here called fazendas de fogoes f
stove-farms
show a little
sugar of poor qualit}-. Cattle, it is said, suffer from the poisonous

which appear in the second growth,
and which are known as " Herva de Rato." The tropeiras all

plants, chiefly Piubiaceae,t

assert that Avhen forage

is

scarce

many

of

theii'

animals are

by them, and they have several simples upon which they
rely.
I believe, however, that very often the deaths result from
change of pasture moreover, no man has yet been able to show

killed

;

me

the "ratsbane."

Turning into a bridle-way on the left of the road we came upon
who were working for Morro Velho. Here,
but not everj'wliere, they have abandoned the old pit in favour of
wood-heaps piled round with " Candeias " (Lj^chnophora, Mart.)
about four feet high, banked up with sods and clay. The system
is still very rude, and much carbon disappears with the oxygen
and hydrogen. We presently fell into the Valley of the Corrego
de Rapaunha which drains the southern face of the Curral.
The name, " Scrape-hoof," is one of many similar trivialities,
as '' Farinha Podre," or rotten flour, " Eapa-queijo," scrapethe charcoal-burners

cheese, " Papa-farinha," grub-flour, " Gallinha choca," spent-hen,
and " Passa-tres," pass-three, because jorobably that number of
travellers first crossed it.
They suggest the nomenclature of the
very Far West further north, and the Black Bob's Creek, Deadman's Flat, Monk's Trunky Creek, and Scabb}" Flat of romantic
Australia.
Presently' we turned to the right and entered private
grounds, the Fazenda de Andre Gomez Seville oranges were
scattered over the earth, and the red-yellow floAver of the Guandii
pea (Cajanus indicus) contrasted well with the coffee in spring
:

* Pisarrao

when in larger masses or
St. Hil. (III. ii. 267) prefers "Pissarao " to "Pisarao. "
Dr. Couto writes
Pi§aiTa (p. 38) in the old style
he trans-

flakes.

:

lates it talco ncgi-o,

to be hard

and

defines it (p. 105)
or soft talcose stuff in leaves or

laminations,

f Or

simply

fogoes,

as

"tera

bons

fogoes para plantar."

J St. Hil. III. i. 176, refers to the
Rubia noxia, and mentions these " Hervas
de Rato " in several places.

"

TO SABARA.

CHAP. XL.]

and spangles, regular as

dress, long lines of stars

dming

fallen

427

if

snow had

the night, disposed along the twigs and set off by

The- propert}' belongs to a distin-

the foliage of metallic green.

guished Liberal, Monsenhor D. Jose Augusto Pereira da Silva,
Vigario da Vara,* ranking in the clergy next to the Bishop,

President of the Municipal

most

Chamber

of Sahara, and, in fine, the

influential person in this place.

The

dignitary being out visiting,

The

of the Eio das Velhas.

we struck the

Praia, or beach

swift 3'ellow stream is foul with

washing, and unhealthy with mineral water

bed

its

;

deeply

is

encased, and abounding in bad turns and shallows.

A

chain

and large shorings and scissars near
an inclined plane and whim, show where Sr. Dumont's boat discharges the huge tree-trunks required by Morro Velho. Above
this "Port Dumont," however, the river is unnavigable.
As far
up as Raposos, the valley shows spoil-banks and cascalho-heaps
which had been rudely washed in the " Canoas " of the " old
stretches across the water

;

ones."

Half an hour's

ride

down the bed placed us

at

Santo Antonio

This was converted from a Capella Cui'ada to
a Parish, and annexed to Raposos by D. Frei Antonio de Guadaloupe, the well-remembered Bishop of Bio de Janeii'o in 173G.

do Arraial Vellio.

It is therefore

remains of

its

one of the oldest in the Province, but

former glories.

has clean disappeared, the

The

mud

little

little

stone bridge (Ponte Velha)

chapel

hardly white-

is

washed and half ruined, and though there are remnants of walls
along the road, a few scattered huts suffice for the population.
There was a " Venda " with the usual tall pole and Saint's picture,

which made our friend Sr. Antonio

INIarcos

remark that his

patron had here become a Captain of Thieves, and a Teacher of
the verb

*'

Surripio."

t

Presently, reaching a fine Fazenda,

the second on the same day.

gi'aceful sweep,
city,

*

The foreground

exposmg the

ecclesiastic witli certain

slope

tell

juridical

matrimonial and other mattci"s
affecting the Church.
:

in

is

a green

flat,

the river bends away to the right with

whose many steeples

An

powers

;

sm-prise,

Sahara again appeared, and this

tmie the scene was Switzerland.
with a single noble tree

we had another

upon which

sits

the high-sited

the pride and piety of the old
t

A

YiejTa,

facetia

derived

from

old

Padre

who made certain of his countiymen,

conjugate "Rapio.

THE HIC4HLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

428

Behind

poi^ulation.

Curral

tlie

it tlie

show that there

is

still

nished cross, fronting the

metres (L.)

liills,

common

little

to

meet

black slides of Jacutinga

iron-smelting in the land.

right rises the featm-e so

are made.

huge Serra da Piedade curves

and, in the nearer

;

[cHAr. xL.

High on

the

in Minas, the tall black fur-

white chapel to which pilgrimages

This Morro da Cruz
above sea-level.

is

2800

feet,

more exactly 858

"We entered the city by the normal bridge of the Brazilian
Provinces, too long, too low, and too old.

It wants raising four
and shortening one-third, which is easily done. The breadth
of the whole bed is 108 metres, but the left bank is cumbered, at
the bend of the river, by a large and ever-increasing sand-bank,
where the furious Bibeirao de Sahara falls at an acute angle
feet

into the Bio das ^^elhas.*
Here, at about half the width of the
bridge up-stream, the water averages 44 instead of 108 metres,
and there is a quarter-built abutment which should be prolonged

The expense

deepen the channel.

to

at present there is a

As

usual,

it is

to a great size

immensely

certam

is

estimated at £8000, but

difficulty kno'wai as impecuniosity.

be made of the fine Ai'oeira wood, which grows
down stream a scantling ten inches by ten, adding

to

;

and nothing to the strength of the
seems to be an idea embedded in the Brazilian
mind. The Province of Minas has only one susi)ension-wii'ebridge with cables of 2*50 inches; it was thrown over the
Parahyba Biver, at Sapucaia, by a French engineer, M. Astier.
It may, for aught I know, be the sole specimen in the Empire.
Near Morro Velho good wire is always procurable, and on the
Sao Paulo Bailway the cable is of 3 to 3'66 inches, and calculated
to bear a strain of twenty-two to thiily tons for a descent of 200
to the weight,

construction,

feet.

Evidentl}' the suspension bridge is a great

economy hitherto

neglected.

The

is the usual long, narrow, mining settlegrown out of wattle and dab to stone and
lime.
Presently it wiU be marble.
It covers about a mile from
east to west, with sundry windings and deviations.
The whole is
paved, and the pavement is not worse than usual.
It is divided
into the Old, or Eastern, Town, called " Igi'eja Grande," whilst

ment.

i^icturesque city
It

has

* Dr. Couto makes the Eio da.s Yelhas
flow into the Valley of the Ribeirao de
Sabard, but the reverse is distinctly the

Both meet a little above the bridge
case.
and dash at a hill through which they
seem to break.

TO SABARA.

CHAi'. XL.]

other

the

known

is

as

the

4-29

"Barm."

The two number

and nine travessas, or cross
a tolerable theatre, where amateurs divert the

squares, twent3'-two streets,

There

is

Besides

.

many

private, there

are

four public

six

streets.

public.

fountains, which

—a necessity here. The position of the
—
houses are painted — one
another pink, with

supply the purest water

makes the climate exceptionally hot in fact, Sabanl and
Morro Vellio have the most tropical temperatures in Minas.*
city

Many

of the

red,

is

The

pea-green shutters, and so forth.

llua Direita has

some

good shops, where men in leather hats, like the " Matutos " of
Pernambuco, gather to purchase goods, wet and dry, for the
There are, besides store-keeping, the local industries,
interior.
lime-burning and making rude gold ornaments.
TJie former
comes from a quarry about a furlong below the bridge, the
beginning of the calcareous formations, which extend to the HCio

The

Francisco Biver.

late

Colonel Yaz

called attention to

first

As

belongs to the Bangel family, t

it has onl}- been
and the expense of opening it will be some £200. It
promises, however, well, and there is a good fall for the rubble.
The lower strata are composed of a yellow-grey marble, not very
sound, but Avhich, probably, will improve when the workings shall
be deeper. The gold employs many people, who turn out coarse
The metal, however, is not nearly
rings, brooches, and so forth.
it,

and

pulled

it

yet

at,

so pure as that of l^iamantina.

We

find tolerable lodgings in the

Bua

das Bananeiras, at the

house of D. Maria dos Prazeres, and proceed to inspect the Cit}'.
Our first visit is to the Largo da Cadeia, or do Rosario. In the
centre of the square, upon four stone steps, stands the old pillory,
surmounted by two weed-grown 'scutcheons. " Better have a
Chafariz," remarks our guide. Major Candido Jose de Araujo
Bruxado, despite his strong Conservative proclivities. To the
north, on a commanding site, is the Rosario, a large unfinished
shell of cut stone.

On the west is the three-storied

aristocrat, the Bariio de Sahara,

* Sr. E. Jose de ^roraes found the luean
diurnal

tenipei-ature

of

Sahara between

March V-i and 23, 1862, to 1)0 24°-78 (C.)
and the altitude 700 metres.
At Jaguara,
646 metres higli, between April 18 and 29
the ligurc was 23°'33(C. ).
At Trahiras
\570 metres) the air wa.s 22°"40, and tho

and

it is

watei'

house of a local

supplied with a thunder-

was 20" -47 between May 12 and

31.

t The

actual proprietor

Goutinho

is Sr.

Jose Seve-

According to
some authorities limestone is found higher
up the Rio das Vclhas.
rianno

llangel.

;

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

430

much

wanted.

[cuap. xl.

It rivals the Pahxcete of the

Barao de
which cost £2000, and now lets
at the then rate of exchange about £7
for 3 $000 per
per annum.
On the south is a quaint and ancient buildmg,
smooth stone below and adobe above, fronted by a deep balcony
upon four wooden posts. The bell, and the Imperial Arms upon
the floor, tell the To^^m House
the ugly faces at the roughlybarred windows below prove the prison. We have seen the best
jails in the Province at Ouro Preto and 8. Joao, and there is a
rod, here

m the

Rua
month

Catas Altas,

Du-eita,

—

;

Campanha

third at

;

the rest are described by the fact that in

1863-4 there Avere no less than forty -two evasions. On the other
hand, pauper prisoners are here, as everywhere in the Brazil,
supported by the public not left, as at Goa and Madeii-a, to the
;

untender mercy of private charity.

Below the square we passed the neat house and grounds of the
Desembargador, Jose Lopez da Silva Vianna, who died about
two years ago. He was a D.C.L. of Coimbra, and his high
reputation caused him to be chosen advocate for tlii'ee " Gold
Companies." On a rise beyond it is the Carmo Church, fronted
by detached Catacombs * the fagade is ornamented with steatite,
cut by the Aleijado.
To the north is the Matriz of N^ S^ da
Conceiciio.
In former times it was leafed with gold, panned
from the river, and the necessary tools were sent out from Portugal.
Near it is the small and unpretending Igreja das jNIerces.
;

The

other temples are the S. Francisco, black and unfinished

the

little

the

llospicio

S'-"^

Pita, in the

Pua

and Convento of

elevated site to

tbe north.

Land have been

Direita
S.

;

the

N»

S'"*

do

O

and

;

Francisco de Assiz, on an

Till lately

some Brothers

of the

da
Terra Santa, and during the last ten years the}^ have drained the
Province of .£20,000, for the benefit of a Jerusalem held by the
Turks.!
Hol}'^

From

the

Carmo

there

established here

is

in their Hospicio

an extensive view of the Eibeu-ao de

Sabar^, which higher up takes the
* The catacomb system in the Brazil
suggests the Camucis or Camucins, long
earthen pots in which the chiefs of the
savages were buried.

name

of Macahubas.t

It is

+ llclatorio of 1865, p. 39. These missionarics were mostly Italians, and arc
said to have been independent of the Pro-

a thorny ?) variety of the Conegroes iironouncc
qneiio (<J. Imtyracea)
the word Bocauba, and in other Provinces
Dr. Coxito WTites Mocauva,
Macahyba.
and the System by an error of accent
Macauba. According to St. Hil. the palm
resembles, but is not identical with the

paganda.

Acrocomia sclerocarpa of Martins.

+ " Of

tho

Macahiiba,"

or

Macauba

]ialin-ticc,

(

:

TO SABARA.

cliAi'. ,VL.]

a violent torrent after rains, filling up

away the

431

its

valley,

and sweeping

bridges, which are, therefore, reduced to "pingelas"

single planks or tree trunks.

At

iDresent the shallow

rill

—

sings

down the sandy bed, pitted
and heaped with gravel once golden. The highlands on both
Beyond
sides are rough and scaly, producing little save ticks.

pleasant music as

it

courses briskly

the stream lies the inevitable " Casa Grande," large, white, and

shut up.

The " Emily Mine"

pierced and

is

in a red ridge of irregular shape,

tunnelled for gold, whilst the "

Capao Mine"

is

hid

The houses in the street-road
the base of a projecting hill.
have large ''compounds" stretching down to the stream below.
Turning to the left is the rough path to the old " Intendencia,"

1)3'

through which the gold passed, a large block of building, with
the

guarded by wooden rails, queer, bulging, and
Inside the ceilings show the " four quarters " of the

windows

antique.

The place has
the fifth division being to it unknown.
been bought by Sr. Francisco de Paula Rocha, a Latin
professor, who has made of it a boys' school.
Sahara, in old MSS. and books " Sabera," and fully written
Sabera bussu Sabera the Great took its name from a cacique
globe,

lately

—

—

or chief found settled near the stream.

Great wealth was ex-

tracted from the deep wells of both river-beds, which are said to

be

still

The

unexhausted, and from the ferrugmous gravel of the banks.

first worked in 1699 to 1700, by the great Paidista
Bartholomeu Bueno Silva, the " Old Devil." In 1707
Fr. Francisco de Menezes and a friend knoAvn as Conrado had
contracted for the duties paid upon raw meat (carnes verdes),
and their monopoly was opposed by the Paulista part}^ under
"Julio Cesar" and D. Francisco de Eondon. The latter were
persuaded to place their weapons in the public stores, and were
attacked when defenceless.
This led to the movement which
made the famous and formidable "Caudilho,"* Manoel Vianna,
a temporary dictator.
The Governor Albuquerque, after settling
the dispute, expelled the fighting friar from Minas, and the Iving
signed on June 19, 1711, the celebrated letter forbidding all

ore was

explorer,

ecclesiastics, missionaries alone excepted, to enter the Province.

In 1711 the settlement obtained the honom's of townshiii as
the " ViUa Real" (de Sahara), and in 1714 it became the Cabeca,
*

A

guerilla chief, or cai'talu,

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BKAZIL.

432

[ciiAr. xl.

or chef-lieu of a " Comarca."

immense

of an

Of these immense subdivisions
Minas Geraes had at first four, each
England proper. Like the other head-

cai^taincy,

nearly equal in extent to

of the Comarcas, Villa Eica, S. Joiio d'El-Eei, and
do Principe, it had its " Casa de fundicao," or GoldSmelting Office, and tliis was not abolished tiU 1719-20. In

quarters
Villa

1788, according to Henderson, the city had 7656 souls, lodged
in

850 houses.

That author

relates

from the Ouvidor's mouth a

A

holy woman. Harmonica by

priestly trick -which reads badly.

name, began to

live

without food, and the good fathers raised

funds to build a house, and to establish a nunnery under

tlie title

Harmonica.
The judge, having reason to suspect that
her reverence would be killed, declared that the priests should
answer for her life, and the result was that she returned to her
regular meals like an ordinary Christian.
The tale reminds us
of the blood of St. Januarius, which liquefied so kindly when
Murat overcame its reluctance by a platoon of infantry. In 1801
Dr. Couto gave the place a population of about 4000 souls this
rose to 9347* in 1819.
By an Alvara, dated March 17, 1823, it
obtamed the title of " Fidelissima," and in 1833, when there
were troubles in the capital, the citizens marched upon it. On
August 11, 1842, the Royalists failed to gain the eminence called
Cabeca de Boi, which Avas occupied b}' the battalions of S*^
Quiteria and S''* Lui^ia.
Next day three columns of the insurgents attacked the city Alvarenga's by the road from llaposos to
Arraial A'elho
Galvao's by the Bapa-queijo track and Lemos'
by that of Papa-farinha. Zeferino, the guerilla, assaulted the bridge
of Mai-Domingos, over the Sahara rivulet, and, after twelve
hours of hard fighting, the Imi)erialists were driven away to
Caethe and Congonhas.
This was the *' Victory of Sahara,"
which was followed a few days afterwards by the crushing defeat
of

Sf'>

;

:

;

of

S'-i

Luzia.

The
souls.

;

municipality of Sahara

The

citj^

lives chiefly

is

su])posed

now

to contain 30,000

upon the Morro VeUio Mine, and,

will neither make its own improvements, nor allow
make them for it. For instance, the " St. John Del
Hey Company" offered to repair the three leagues of precipitous

as usual,

it

others to

and dangerous road leading to Santa Luzia

;

but the munici-

* It is as usual difficult to decide whether the nuinljcrs apply to
municipality.

tlic

city or

the

—
CHAP.

—

TO SABATlA.

XI,.]

433

have

pality, fearing the loss of certain dues,
its

horrors and

its

shame.

confian9a"* thus, we see,

The barbarous

die every night,

its

the line in

known

There

flourishes.

still

dulness about the place, despite

left

feeling

eight churches

and to recover only half

in the

life

;

all

as " des-

is

a mortal

it

seems to

morning.

It

shows more " vadios," especially about its " Bridge of Coventry,"
a favourite Brazilian lounge, where one prospects black and
brown washerwomen than the visitor to London will see during
the first six items of the week
and if you ask them, " Why
"
stand you here all the day idle ?
they will reply, if they reply at
all, "Because no man hath hu'ed us"
i.e,, we have nothing better

—

—

;

to do.

This great centre of gold-washing rose suddenly to wealth and
importance in the begmning of the last century. Its treasures
were nearly worked out in 1825, quite in 1846. Of late certain
EngHsh mines, concerning which more presently, gave it a partial

But its future is still to come. Between Sahara
and the capital of the Empire, as M. Liais has sho^Ti, there are
only 192 direct miles, f Moreover, the meridian is nearly the
same. The navigation of the Rio das Velhas, even now beginning, will place it in communication with the Sao Francisco River
and it must become, with time, another St. Louis, Mo. I have
carefully described its decayed state, and travellers of the next
generation will read my description, long and somewhat tedious
resuscitation.

;

as

it is,

with interest.

At Sahara my preparations were made for descending the Rio
das Vellias, and I found myself in the hands of a Portuguese
storekeeper, living in the Rua do Fogo, No. 28, named Manoel
Pereii'a de MeUo Vianna, and popularly called " Piaba," I or the
Unfortunately he had been in England he spoke our
Sprat.
language, and thus he could exploit all the hapless Angio-Ame;

* Suspicion
is

:

the uncivilized

Brazilian

sphere

:

remarkably " desconfiado, " like the back-

woodsman further north.
t More exactly 3° 12'

39".

M.

Liais

lat. of Sahara S. 19° 53' 51" 7
(Niemeyer 19° 54' 15", and Gerber 19°
53' 20"), and the long, west of Rio
1' 13' 48" -6 (Gerber 0° 35' 20", and Wagner
0° 36' 20"). The following table shows the
position of the three cities which demand
connection
they occupy nearly the same

gives the true

:

arc of the great circle of

the

terrestrial

S.

Lat.

Rio de Janeiro 22° 53' 51"
21° 13' 9"
Barbacena
.

SabariL

.

19° 53'

51"7

Longitude,
0° 0' 0"
0° 49' 45"
1° 13' 49"

+ One of the Salmonidce described by
Gardner it is two to three inches long,
and a vivacious, bustling, peering sprat.
It is good bait for the "Maudim," and
other greedy fish, and it is eaten by
:

children,

"

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BEAZIL.

484

ricans

who

fell

his

into

hands.

translate

I

[chap. xl.

his preposterous

which ends wdtli " My labour gi'atis." This reminded me
of the " Nothm' charged for grief," in the Irish wake. Others may
gam by my giving to it pubHcity. These people always suspect
Government Expeditions, when the Brazilian Uncle Sam pays for
They
all, as in the much-satirized sui've^'s of the United States.
cannot believe that you travel at your own expense, instead of
burdenmg the " Empire" or the " Province." How should they,

bill,*

who have never seen

it

done

?

But

I

may

justly complain when,

in addition to his extortionate charges, the Piaba sent
a "racha," or leak,
*

The Most

Illustriovis
debtor to
(very old) canoes
200 f 000
For having them poled up
33 $ 000
Two carpenters (6 days each) 26 $ 400
,

Two new

Extra planks

Awning

.

cloth

Sleeping cixshion
Nails, saws, &c.,

...
.

.

.

.

(fee.

Total

" Meu Trabalho

me down

m a raft

whose starboard canoe had
hardly stopped up with Sahara clay.

a river like the Mississippi

.

.

gratis.

.

48 $
26 $
9 $
67 $

Manoel Pereira de Mello Vianna.
(worth about

half).

(they came from a few leagues below the town).
(the usual doiible).

993
400
000
586

411 $ 379
Sd.

M.

P.

de M. Yianna.

CHAPTER

XLI.

TO CUIABA.
Veras separar ao habil negro
Do pezado esmeril a grossa areia,
E ja brilharem os granetes de ouro

No f undo da batea.
Lyras of Gonzaga.
I ^^^:LL conclude this

volume with an excursion from Sahara

to

—

made by Mr, Gordon and myself on July 4 5, 1867.
set out eastward, and presently we crossed the red Sahara

Cuiaba,

We

Ponte Pequena or " de Joao
Velho
its hand-rail is so low that a vicious mule would be
Thence we ascended the Lilliputian
tempted to try a spring.
riverine valley, and presently we passed the " Folly," with a fine
verandah on the hill-top to om* right. This, the head-quarters
of the "East Del Rey Mining Company, Limited," established
A sanguine
in 1861, cost, they say, from £2000 to £2500.
account of the "immense size of the vein" went home, and the
Rivulet by a long bridge,

the

:

public was informed that " the lodes are in every respect similar

and character to those of the celebrated mine of
the facilities for working them are, however, much
greater, and the outlay requii'ed to bring them mto a profitable
The property consisted of
state would be comparatively smaU."

in formation

Morro Velho

;

two estates, one the " Papa-farinha," afterwards called the
" Emily," three miles long by one and a-half broad
here the
the
feet
above
Sahara
as
being
400
300
to
described
out-crop was
The
other
was
the
of
it.
100
fathoms
north
stream, which runs
" Capao," about half a mile south by west of the "Emily," and
:

was proposed to work both simultaneously.
Both grounds were ceded to the Company for a term of fifty
the purchase of the whole mining plant, buildings,
years
stamps, and wheels, was eifected for £2500; and a royalty of
it

:

:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

436

[chap. xli.

made payable to the grantor.
now of France, had bought
the two, when Managing Director of the Cocaes Company, for
£1200, and though he had employed upon them large gangs of
three per cent, on the gold was

The

latter,

formerly of Minas Geraes,

mines never produced anything that approached
Furthermore, £10,000 were made payable to
said grantor, when the shareholders should have received
£10,000 in dividends and a third and final £10,000 was to find
its way in the same direction, when £20,000 should have been
Under these circumstances the Company was raised,
divided.
the

blacks,

working

costs.

;

with a capital of 30,000 shares, each £3.

But, when operations began, the lode, said to be twenty-four
feet wide, was found ii-regular, and much better left untouched.
PjTites was rare, the general formation being a disturbed line of

iron and manganese, quartz, and clay slate, in a containing rock
shaft was run into the " Capao," and various
of " killas."

A

the lode, were dug in the hill-side of the
"Emily."
A single small set of stamps now removed was
The
set up, and even for these there was not employment.
published accounts show an expenditui'e of £36,000 at Sahara
and the good shareholders enjoy the satisfaction of having most
comfortably lodged their employes in a Casa Grande. The " East
Del Rey " has therefore walked off to *' S. Vicente " it now
wants only a new name, new subscribers, and a new capital.
Here the Kttle Macahubas River drains the northern face of the
Caethe hills and the southern front of the Serra da Piedade.
This huge chine towers on our left with jags and saws, blocks and
"cheese wrings," of tortuous, micaceous clay slate, resting upon
a rough, hard, and reddish ironstone, mostly oxide, and in
here is, in fact, the northern buttress of
extreme abundance
that range whose southern apex we saw at Itabii'a do Campo.
trial levels to intersect

—

—

:

:

The

vegetation forms a threadbare coat of thin grass, and low

grey, scrubby shrub.

The

best ascent

the western side has a path, but

it is

is

from the east via Caethe

abrupt and unsafe.

On

;

the

summit, some two and a quai'ter leagues from Sahara, rises a
small white chui'ch, which glistens like a pearl in the sparkling
sun conspicuous from afar it will be most useful to surveyors.
:

The Piedade,
life

with

lastly,

its

like the

hermit

;

Caraga and the Itacolumi, began

civilized

presently the cell exj)anded to a church, and

D. Joao VI. presented

to

it

an adjoining farm to be held

—

TO CFIABA,

CHAP. XLi.]

allodially

candles in this "
is

a

Many

and in perpetuum.

dispute

free, privileged,

and offer
and manuniised chapel." There

about the height

Spix and Martins make

it

437

of

5400

pilgrims

still visit

crested

Serra's

the

above sea-level

feet

head.

— 2400

below what Gardner assigned to the Organ Mountains or MariMM. Liais and Halfeld differed about the
time Range.
Mr.
comparative altitudes of the Piedade and the Itacolumi.
Gordon took observations both on the Piedade and at Sahara, but
his instrument appears to have been out of adjustment.*

This range
according

to

sound,

said strongly to reverberate

is

some authors, that

is

it

"fully

showing,

charged with

The ancients supposed consecrated rocks to emit
and prophetic noises: we call to mind the "Kenidjack," or Hooting Cairn of Cornwall, and sundry others, where
mineral."

significant

people are equally affected with folk-folly.

The

Brazilians quote

man}^ apparently authenticated cases of "Bramidos," or subter-

ranean roarmgs, which they connect with the Mae de Ouro or
Undoubtedly they often confuse the undergromid
gold-pixy.
reports with the superficial sounds of an exaggerated storm, the

roaring of the wind, and the muffled reply of the cold grey stones

;

the shivering of the trees, and the falling of decomposed and
scaled-off

blocks,

exclaim, "

How

to

heard within

they snore

shudder with panic -fear.

snorers, the two granite

doors,

making

inmates

the

—how they blow "—and causmg them
We

remember the " Schnarcher," or

lumps on the Barenberg, where popular

superstition placed the earth's centre.

The subterranean thunders,
called the "

Bramidos de
by Humboldt.
Those,

imaccompanied by appreciable shocks,
Guanaxuato," have been mentioned
however, are distinctly volcanic, but in

many

parts of the Brazil

and the sandstone
have not witnessed the phenomenon,

they seem to be heard in the limestone
formation.

Personally, I

but the mass of evidence is certainly for its existence.
Many a time we forded and re-forded the little mountain-bui'n
with the golden sands and the fishy waters.
currals or weirs of

ver}""

* On the summit Pelissher's aneroid gave
3.500
Temp. 77°
Bar. Reading 26-24.
At Sabard Bridge, on the level of
feet.

=

these

figures are

Buril(KEmpire du
Itambe

=

Piedade

Temp. 78°
makes the
latter 695 metres, or nearly 2300 feet,
almost 500 below the Morro da Cruz, and
feet.

But M.

Liais

places there are

evidently

connect.

M.

Brcsil) offers the foUow-

ing table of altitudes

the stream, Bar. reading 29 '32.

568

At

poor construction, double and sometimes

:

1816 metres above
1774
,,
Itacolumi 1754
,,
Itabira
1590
,,

sea-level.

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

438

[chap. xli.

In other parts there were wretched dams, formmg rude
they must be carried off by every flood. Here and there
stream was arrested by stakes driven into the gravelly

treble.

leats

the

:

bottom

upon these were

:

the current and induce

brushwood and stones

to slacken

A

single old

piled
to

it

deposit

its

gold.

" faiscador " or washer appeared he looked like a gorilla caught
in the open, and he glared at us as if we were so many Du
His tools were the carumbeia or bowl for coarse
Chaillus.
gravel, the batea or platter for the finer sand, and an almocafre,
:

This

here pronounced almocorf.*
the pebbles, and

it

is

the iron hoe which tm'ns up

appears in four shapes, the rounded-conical,

the square, the lozenge, and the triangle.

Where water abounds

the gold is worked by the Monjolo,! a trapeze-shaped trough of
sticks and stiff clay, the broad end raised at an angle of 35°,
Into the
some three or fom* feet above the stream level.

upper part the

aui'iferous gravel is

whilst a bit of

skm

thrown and water

ladled in,

is

placed at the lower and narrow end arrests

minute grains, wliich are specifithan the stone, t
The River Valley closed in as we advanced, and became more
picturesque happily for us there were clouds in these bottoms

the flattened scales and the

cally about seven times heavier

;

:

the heat

is

excessive, especially dm-ing the early

warm

season,

We presently passed the Pompeo
September.
a wretched chapel and
village, often mentioned b}' travellers
broken walls are all that remain of its old magnificence. Caldcleugh found on the right bank of the streamlet a formation of
chorite slate, with cleavage planes traversed, nearly at right
and

August

:

by broad,

angles,

often

quartz fi'agments

Pompeo on

and well displayed veins of quartz,

distinct,

am-iferous.
:

The upper soil showed a regular
now much of it has been removed.

the left

still

rises the old

layer of

Beyond

Cuiaba Company's Casa

Grande, built by Mr. Edward Oxenford.
"
After fording the Ribeii'ao six times we sighted in an " impasse
It is a savage rocky
before us the celebrated "horse-shoe."
* In dictionaries we find Almocafre and
SanAbno Cafre, which Moraes explains
cho com bico ou ponta, usada na mine'

'

ra9ao. "

The word

Mikhrafr
Tiir-i -L

/
•
i
(^_*i-»i

V^V"™

gathering.
elliptic arch.

is

\

^)
/

probably the Ai-abic

an

-J.
^
instrument

The most common shape

is

t

tor

the

f St. Hil. (III. ii. 143) calls this i-iide
contrivance cuyaca, jirobably a word peculiar to Goyaz
he omits the skin and thus
:

he

loses his gold.

Moniolos are seen on the Rio
+ -rjMany
'
,
,,
j.-n u ibelieve
das Velhas, where the people still
in canjica, or nugget gold
since 1801,
however, they have found very little of it.

1^.1

1

:

CHAP,

TO CUTABA.

xi.i.]

439

hollow in the southern sub-chain of the Serra da Piedade, which
bristles high above it, and which is to the Cuiaba deposits what
the Serra

is to those of S. Jose and the CiuTal to Moito Vellio.
Towering some 220 feet in the ah- were certain "shoots," which
announced to us that we had reached our destination. A few
poor huts lay scattered about, and there was a little forge that
turns out knives and horse-shoes
the old mining proprietress
has outhved all luxury, and wears a man's coat over a tattered
chemise. At the end of the sixth mile * of tedious road, we passed
some twenty head of stamps and three " arrastres," with the
other usual appurtenances, and we dismounted at a gromid-floor
tenement to be received with a true Scotch greeting by Mr.
Brown.
After what is locally called a " Bisnaga," we proceeded to visit
the Cuiaba works, t
The ascent was severe up the eastern seg:

ment of the " Horse- shoe,"
lodes running east and west.

wliich is said to contain six several

The lower

part of the formation

is

and it belongs to the Vaz famil}^, who by
rude hand-work produced five oitavas of ore per ton.
The
Company's portion, situated higher up, is known to be poor and
northwards the lodes are much disturbed.
As we rose we could
see the clay slate dipping from west to east, and the mountains

by

far the richer,

;

bluff to the west

:

it

is

not known

how

the strata underlie the

mineral formation.
We passed the " Serrote " or midway workings, a ridge running
nearly north to south, and what miners call " lui*ched"%r heaved

Here, as is shown by the red ground, a large surface had
off.
been washed. To the left and higher up was the Httle mining
We entered the Terra Vermelha Gallery, the
village " Cuiaba."
highest digging, and about fort}' fathoms long there being no
means of ventilation the smoke of the late blastmg liimg hea\aly.
I could not see any possibilitj^ of drainage, and I judged that the
water would soon stop fiu-ther dead-works sinking and driving.
The roof seemed to be solid, but prolonged excavation will soon
:

—

• Dr. Gardner says two leagues (I preThe
geographical) from SabarS,.

same

prospectus of the East Dol Rey Company
made the latter place seven miles east of
"St. John Del Rey." 1 should read nine
a total of fifteen to Ouiab^.
t A gourd in bottle shape is called

—

Caba9a, our Calaba.sh
Cfiia or C6ya is a
section of the same gourd used by the
indigens as a skillet or cup, and -aba,
means the place of. The capital of the
:

Matto Grosso Province is usually written
Cuyabd the mine Cuiabd..
:

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

440

necessitate timbering.

quartz and pyrites

The formation

but the latter

:

is

is

that of

[chap. xli.

Moito

Vellio,

not equally disseminated,

and the scraps are rich whilst the bulk is poor. The mundic
apparently copper pyrites, which may contain silver with
arsenic.
The Brazilians have different names for the rock,
" PecU'a de Campo," quartz boulders " Olho de Porco," a blue
quartz with iron j^p'ites and free gold;" * " Caco," soft sugary
quartz containing the precious ore in ollios or pockets
and
"Lapa,"tlie usual killas. As much as nine oitavas have been
taken from three tons of stone.
Much blasting is requu'ed,
but the stuff being more brittle than that of Morro Velho, is
easier to spall and stamp.
Amalgamation works have not yet
been used.
About midway is the " Shallow Adit," now fifteen years old,
and some 109 fathoms long: it was driven to meet the " Serrote"
and to unwater the mineral above that region. According to the
Messrs. Vaz the ore is here rich. We found a primitive tramway,
and the wooden rails where exposed to friction had guards of thin
is

;

;

metal plates. f
alias "

We

then visited the lowest

Mina do Cedro,"

thirt}^

a lower point the " Serrote " and the
close to

it,

on the

left.

site,

"Vivian's Level,"

This will drain at
Fonte Grande," which is

fathoms long.

Thus

*'

also stone can be got out at a

moderate cost for the stamps. The line was in soft clay, and
ver}?^ wet
its western direction seemed to run under the " Fonte
"
Grande ravine and Corrego, which was on oui" left, and thence
A dozen workto pass sflPaight mto a worthless mass of killas.
:

men

or so were preparing to

la}-

a traniAvay ui)on a newl}' cut road

leading to the spalling-floors, which are seven fathoms below the

shoots and these

above the stamps.
and we were ready for our
wage of rest. The house was not a Casa Grande, but none the
less hospitable therefore, and Mrs. Gordon had not forgotten to
supply us with a huge basket. The evening also at this elevation

We

tliii't}'^

had now done

a fair day's work,

Our good host, Mr. Brown, has
was dehghtfuUy cool and clear.
been seven to eight years in the Brazil. He came out here as
Receiver and Manager, under orders of the Court of Chancery,
to the

Cocaes Company, which, at the petition of

* I liave seen
of this rock

some splendid specimens

brought from a

site

very near

the city of S. Paiilo.
In the Riazil, where woods, hard as
"t"

many

its

share-

metals, are abundant and cheap, it
strange that these rails have not generally been adopted for small works.
is

TO CUIABA.

CHAP. XLi.]

441

holders, was in process of " winding up."

"realize"

and to

actionnaires,

who

settle

aflfairs

He

are not registered.

energy, he boasts

house

that his

was

It

desii'able to

without any further

call

has preserved

Company

printing-machine in the Province, and he proposes a

with a capital of £100,000 in 20,000 shares.
peninsula between the Macahubas and
b^^

water.

The

six

The

estate,

Gaia streams,

two to three broad, and

miles long

wood and

is

his

only private

the

contains

upon

all

is

a

seven

well supplied with

have been Httle troubled,

lodes

although formerly a hundred head of stamps worked at once,
and the peld was 2 16 oitavas per ton the stamp-sand being

—

—

The ground belongs

simply panned.

Brazilian owners, and a section of

it,

at present to

many

small

neither large nor valuable,

Meanwhile only one English
part of the " Cocaes Estate."
miner and forty to fifty free natives are employed and mining,
^like farming, racing, or balloonmg,
on a small scale, is not
is

;

—

—

apt to pay.

A

few words

•Brazilian

concerning " Cocaes,"

Mining Association"

—even
The

ahas

the

foreigners

" National

here have a

N'' S^ do
Rosario de Cocaes* Hes upon the Una River, in the same range
it is a
as Gongo Soco, which is about eight miles south by west

lust for high-sounduig names.

Httle

village

:

humid, but healthy site, 3400 feet above sea level, distant
thirty-two miles from Sahara, and fifty from Oui'o Preto.
Dr. Couto, who visited it in 1801, declares that the once rich
stream had then been worked out (todo lavado), and that the
he
mmers had ascended the hills to find better washings
detected in the heights huge spoil-heaps of red, ash-coloured,
Here stni resides the " intrusive Presiand purple copper.
cold,

:

dent," Jose Fehcianno Pinto Coellio da Cunha,

and who
the National Guard.

Minas

The

in 1842,

lode

is

is

Jacutinga.

now Barao de
It is here a

who undertook

Cocaes, t commanding

micaceous

ii'on

schist,

or slate, dipping easterly at about 30°, striated, colom-ed pepper
* I did not visit Cocaes.
Cecal, a word
found on the Rio de Sao Francisco, is a
plantation of Coca (Cocciilus indiciis, which
Moraes also calls Mata-piolho, and says is
St. Hil. (I. i. 444)
used to narcotize fish).
suggests that it may be the plimil of Cocao,
une sorte de bois du Bresil que Ton emploie
dans les charjientes. " But the plural form

Cocao

Cocoes, not Cocaes.
not wealthy, having divided
amongst his children almost all his property
His
except the house in which he lives.
brother. Colonel Felicio Jose Pinto Coelho
da Cunha, was the first husband of the
of

+ He

Ls

is

celebrated beauty,
Santos.

the late

Marqueza de

THE HIGHLANDS OF THE BRAZIL.

442

[chap. xli.

now soft and friable, then hard and passmg mto
salt
The walls of the lode generally are
ferrugmous sandstone.
blue clay-slate, and the foot-wall or under-wall is composed
of fine specular micaceous iron, in large slabs bright as a
and

mirror.

;

The

better shoots are tolerably rich.

Of

pyritic for-

mations there are three, or some say two, longitudinal strikes
through the mineral part of the estate these dip west to east,
:

and the underlay is about 40° south.
In 1830 the land had been surveyed by M. Ferdinand Halfeld, and belonged to several Brazilian proprietors, amongst
whom the Barao de Cocaes was the chief man. Three j-ears afterwards it was rented by the Company for a term of fifty years,
and the lease has thus about sixteen to run. Mr. Macdonald,
Chief Commissioner, and the Mining Captain, Mr. Thomas
Treloar, began work in June, 1834.
Under the rule of Mr.
Goodaii"
(a Portugal-born Englishman), the late Mr.
Boscoe, Mr.
Henry Oxenford, Senior (1847), and Dr. Gunning, who went
the mme yielded
out as " Medical Missioner," to the Brazil
When Gardner
some i6100,000, but never paid its costs.
visited Cocaes the total expenses had been £'200,000.
The chief
shaft Avas fifty fathoms deep, and the hands were thirty free
Brazilians, thirty English miners, and 300 " Company's blacks."
He admired the conspicuous chm-ch and the neat houses in
declaring the village to be the i^rettiest that he
rich gardens
had seen in Minas. In 1850 Dr. Walker found the water so
deep that the mine was unmanageable. In 1851 there was a
" run :" the waUs came together, and the crushed timber carried
away the pumping gear, choked up the engine shaft, and filled
Mr. William Treloar womid
the level with fragments of rock.
up affairs. The unexpired lease of the Association may easily
!

—

—

;

********

be taken up, but the 10 per cent, royalty must be reduced to

4, if

profit is to be expected.

At Sahara we concluded our 500 miles of land journey
through the richest and the most po^jular part of Minas Geraes.
Here, however, ends the excursionist portion, much of which, I
have said before, will soon form a section of the nineteenthcentury Grand Tour.
But what now comes is not yet exactly
a pleasure trip down the Thames or uj) the Rhine there ai'e
hot suns, drenching rains, and angiy wmds to be endui'ed ; there
:

OITAI-.

is

TO CUT ABA.

xLi.]

before us a certain

amount

*t3

of hardship, privation, and fatigue,

with just enough of risk to enUven the passage

;

and, finally,

there are nearly 1300 miles to be covered by the craziest of crafts,

caulked with Sahara clay.

END OF VOL.

BRADl-.UnV, EVANS,

AND

CO.,

I.

PRINTERS, WniTEFRIARS.